Definitions

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

  • noun A legendary sea creature having the head and upper body of a woman and the tail of a fish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fabled marine or amphibian creature having the form of a woman above the waist and that of a fish below, endowed with human attributes, and usually working harm, with or without malignant intent, to mortals with whom she might be thrown into relation.

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

  • noun A fabled marine creature, typically represented as having the upper part like that of a woman, and the lower like a fish; a sea nymph, sea woman, or woman fish.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the angel fish (Squatina).
  • noun (Zoöl.) a British branched sponge somewhat resembling a glove.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a European spatangoid sea urchin (Echinocardium cordatum) having some resemblance to a skull.
  • noun (Bot.) an aquatic herb with dentate or pectinate leaves (Proserpinaca palustris and Proserpinaca pectinacea).

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

  • noun A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.

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

  • noun half woman and half fish; lives in the sea

Etymologies

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

[Middle English : mere, sea, lake; see mere + maid, maid; see maid.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English mermayde ("maid of the sea"), from mere ("sea, lake") + maid, equivalent to mer- +‎ maid. Compare Old English meremenn, meremennen, meremenin ("mermaid, siren").

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Examples

  • Sarah, who goes by the name mermaid lady on BodySpace, took a gradual approach by first researching nutrition and exercise and talking to others about weight loss and training, then incorporating strategies for creating change.

    Body by Design Kris Gethin 2011

  • Sarah, who goes by the name mermaid lady on BodySpace, took a gradual approach by first researching nutrition and exercise and talking to others about weight loss and training, then incorporating strategies for creating change.

    Body by Design Kris Gethin 2011

  • The wife of a Teton (the Tetons are a tribe of American natives) deserted him, abandoned her infant to her younger brother's care, and plunged into a stream, where she became what we call a mermaid, -- and all because her husband had scolded her.

    The Science of Fairy Tales An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology Edwin Sidney Hartland 1887

  • She was wearing what she called her mermaid outfit: long, form-fitting aquamarine sequined skirt slit nearly to the waist, halter top, shimmering cape held like angel wings,

    NYT > Travel By DIANE CARDWELL 2009

  • That’s how it ended up with the name mermaid weed.

    FALSE MERMAID ERIN HART 2010

  • That’s how it ended up with the name mermaid weed.

    FALSE MERMAID ERIN HART 2010

  • A Mazatlan mermaid is captured in perpetual performance for strollers and lovers alike.

    A Mazatlan mermaid is captured in perpetual performance for strollers and lovers alike. © Gerry Soroka, 2009 2009

  • The mermaid is awesome, the fire elemental is sick, but the two faced guy is stupid.

    Sanctuary premiere review 2008

  • Life as a mermaid is much easier than all this! we lay piles of eggs on the coral reef and the mermen fertilise them. then we all go off and play water volley ball.

    The Full Brazilian Newmania 2008

  • May 18th, 2009 at 10: 33 pm this mermaid is fake because in the pic the hair is to shiny don’t u think

    Top 10 Hottest Animated Disney Women 2006

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