nymphaea

See also: Nymphaea and nymphæa

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /nɪmˈfiːə/

Etymology 1

From Latin nymphaea, from Ancient Greek νυμφαῖα (numphaîa), feminine singular form of νυμφαῖος (numphaîos, “sacred to the nymphs”), from νύμφη (númphē, “nymph”).

Noun

nymphaea (plural nymphaeas)

1. (botany) Originally, the European white water lily; later also, a species of the genus Nymphaea.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 5, member 1, subsection v:

     Guianerius, cap. 8, tract. 15, would have them used twice a day, and when they come forth of the baths, their backbones to be anointed with oil of almonds, violets, nymphæa, fresh capon-grease, etc.

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Noun

nymphaea

1. plural of nymphaeum

Latin

nymphaea (water lily)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek νυμφαία (numphaía).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /nymˈpʰae̯.a/, [nʏmˈpʰäe̯ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /nimˈfe.a/, [nimˈfɛːä]

Noun

nymphaea f (genitive nymphaeae); first declension

1. water lily

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nymphaea	nymphaeae
Genitive	nymphaeae	nymphaeārum
Dative	nymphaeae	nymphaeīs
Accusative	nymphaeam	nymphaeās
Ablative	nymphaeā	nymphaeīs
Vocative	nymphaea	nymphaeae

Related terms

• nympha

Descendants

• Translingual: Nymphaea

References

• “nymphaea”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• nymphaea in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “nymphaea”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly