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
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A fat middle-aged dryad is a dreadful sight, I always think.
Try Anything Twice 1938
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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
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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
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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
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She alone of the five would have known what "dryad" means.
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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
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The Spartan/dryad mix for your current WIP looks spectacular too.
Guest Author: Maree Anderson - Even Demons Get The Blues Nalini Singh 2009
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You know that dryad/mermaid of mine everyone loves? freyapax finished the shawl based on her.
Monday elmocho 2009
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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
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As a druid/dryad it could be a nice and logical extention of your skills. gr,
Kederan XV Conquering Krimmhild nathreee 2010
ofravens commented on the word dryad
I must watch sluttish dryads twitch
Their multifarious silks in the holy grove
from "On the Plethora of Dryads," Sylvia Plath
March 26, 2008