Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Greek Mythology A divinity presiding over forests and trees; a wood nymph.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In mythology, a deity or nymph of the woods; a nymph supposed to reside in trees or preside over woods. See hamadryad.
- n. In zoology, a kind of dormouse, Myoxus dryas.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A wood nymph; a nymph whose life was bound up with that of her tree.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a deity or nymph of the woods
Etymologies
- Middle English Driad, from Latin Dryas, Dryad-, from Greek Druas, from drūs, tree; see deru- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“A fat middle-aged dryad is a dreadful sight, I always think.”
“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
“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
“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.”
“She alone of the five would have known what "dryad" means.”
“As a druid/dryad it could be a nice and logical extention of your skills. gr,”
“Vuurdoorn is a druid/dryad and a ritualist with a fascination for silly humans without really caring for their well-being.”
“The Spartan/dryad mix for your current WIP looks spectacular too.”
“You know that dryad/mermaid of mine everyone loves? freyapax finished the shawl based on her.”
“I wonder what's in store for the wizard and his beloved dryad ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dryad’.
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
ofravens I must watch sluttish dryads twitch
Their multifarious silks in the holy grove
from "On the Plethora of Dryads," Sylvia Plath Mar 26, 2008