NAIAD • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Naiad

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noun

Naiad n.

(Myth.) A water nymph; one of the lower female divinities, fabled to preside over some body of fresh water, as a lake, river, brook, or fountain.

(Zool.) Any species of a tribe (Naiades) of freshwater bivalves, including Unio, Anodonta, and numerous allied genera; a river mussel.

(Zool) One of a group of butterflies. See Nymph.

(Bot.) Any plant of the order Naiadaceae, such as eelgrass, pondweed, etc.

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Etymology of 'Naiad'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Naiad" Quotes from Famous Books

... wooings, gentle June? Thou hast a Naiad's charm; Thy breezes scent the rose's breath; Old Time gives thee her palm. [5] The lark's shrill song doth wake the dawn; The eve-bird's forest flute Gives back some maiden melody, Too pure ...

— Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 • Mary Baker Eddy

... likely that my search will ever be renewed, and for me the Galaesus—"dulce Galaesi flumen"—is the stream I found and tracked, whose waters I heard mingle with the Little Sea. The memory has no sense of disappointment. Those reeds which rustle about the hidden source seem to me fit shelter of a Naiad; I am glad I could not see the water bubbling in its spring, for there remains a mystery. Whilst I live, the Galaesus purls and glistens in the light of that golden afternoon, and there beyond, across the blue still depths, glimmers a vision ...

— By the Ionian Sea - Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy • George Gissing

... inquisitive dame, a pair of dark blue eyes—they belonged to the daughter of the speaker, and any one who has such a daughter cannot be silly! The mother was like a fountain of questions, and the daughter, who listened, but never spoke, might pass for the beautiful Naiad of the fountain. How charming she was! She was a study for the sculptor to contemplate, but not to converse with; and, indeed, she did not speak, or ...

— What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales • Hans Christian Andersen

... the safety of this squadron, I take the opportunity by the Marlborough to inform your lordship of my having anchored in this bay last Tuesday evening, with the ships under my command, where we have ridden the gale out in perfect safety, together with the Montague and Naiad, which ...

— Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez, Vol. I • Sir John Ross

... with leisurely benignity to another object—a marble replica of the bust of Miss Light. "An ideal head, I presume," he went on; "a fanciful representation of one of the pagan goddesses—a Diana, a Flora, a naiad or dryad? I often regret that our American artists should not boldly cast off ...

— Roderick Hudson • Henry James

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