English
hamadryad
Hamadryad comes from Latin Hamadryas ‘Hamadryad, mother of the hamadryads (woodnymphs)’, and goes back to Ancient Greek Ἁμαδρυάς.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἉμαδρυάςHamadruás‘a woodnymph, a hamadryad’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEHamadryas‘Hamadryad, mother of the hamadryads (woodnymphs)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828hamadryad
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἉμαδρυάςHamadruás‘a woodnymph, a hamadryad’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEHamadryas‘Hamadryad, mother of the hamadryads (woodnymphs)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828hamadryad
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “One of the most interesting species of Nymphs is…”
A compound of ἅμα ‘together’ + δρῦς ‘tree’
Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one’
Ancient Greek ἅμα ‘together’
Proto-Indo-European *dóru ‘tree’
Ancient Greek δρῦς ‘tree’
Every English word from Ancient Greek Ἁμαδρυάς
Today it means
noun A wood-nymph who was physically a part of her tree; she would die if her tree were felled.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek Ἁμαδρυάς / hamadryad