Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A divinity presiding over forests and trees; a wood nymph.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mythology, a deity or nymph of the woods; a nymph supposed to reside in trees or preside over woods. See hamadryad.
  • noun In zoology, a kind of dormouse, Myoxus dryas.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Class. Myth.) A wood nymph; a nymph whose life was bound up with that of her tree.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Greek mythology In Greek myth, a female tree spirit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a deity or nymph of the woods

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Driad, from Latin Dryas, Dryad-, from Greek Druas, from drūs, tree; see deru- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Proto-Indo-European *derew(o)- (“tree, or, wood”).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dryad.

Examples

  • A fat middle-aged dryad is a dreadful sight, I always think.

    Try Anything Twice 1938

  • But she was sure that the dryad was the key to passage, and that there was some kind of price that would persuade her.

    Cube Route Anthony, Piers 2003

  • Yes, better than a fairy, a dryad, that is a fairy of the tree.

    Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories The Young Folks Treasury, Volume 1 Various 1865

  • Across the gallery and down the stair -- it might have been the Golden Stair linking Near with Far -- came a score of exquisite women in all the glory of their youth, of perfect physical beauty and splendid strength and fullness of life; and the wonder was not their beauty more than a kind of dryad delicacy of that beauty, which was yet not frailty but a look of angelic strength.

    Romance Island Zona Gale 1906

  • She alone of the five would have known what "dryad" means.

    Winnie Childs The Shop Girl 1901

  • Vuurdoorn is a druid/dryad and a ritualist with a fascination for silly humans without really caring for their well-being.

    Kederan XV Conquering Krimmhild nathreee 2010

  • The Spartan/dryad mix for your current WIP looks spectacular too.

    Guest Author: Maree Anderson - Even Demons Get The Blues Nalini Singh 2009

  • You know that dryad/mermaid of mine everyone loves? freyapax finished the shawl based on her.

    Monday elmocho 2009

  • Vuurdoorn is a druid/dryad and a ritualist with a fascination for silly humans without really caring for their well-being.

    Kederan XV Conquering Krimmhild nathreee 2010

  • As a druid/dryad it could be a nice and logical extention of your skills. gr,

    Kederan XV Conquering Krimmhild nathreee 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I must watch sluttish dryads twitch

    Their multifarious silks in the holy grove

    from "On the Plethora of Dryads," Sylvia Plath

    March 26, 2008