Definitions

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

  • proper noun A female given name.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German Undine ("undine"), first used as a given name in the novel Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué and in 19th century operas based on the book.

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Examples

  • Dynamite was used to free her, and she was then apparently salvaged and repaired and left in Undine Bay in the New Hebrides.

    Whatever Happened to Jack London's Boat, the Snark? 2010

  • He also objected to the name Undine; and at my earnest request, came home with me, through the dark forest, in order to baptise her.

    Famous Stories Every Child Should Know Various 1880

  • Undine is indeed a very charming tale: it displays delicacy blended with great power, a heart-born truthfulness, and a divine spirit.

    The Raven And Other Poems. 1845

  • "Thus, then, was she baptized Undine; and during the holy ceremony she behaved with great propriety and gentleness, wild and wayward as at other times she invariably was; for in this my wife was quite right, when she mentioned the anxiety the child has occasioned us.

    Undine Friedrich Heinrich Karl Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqu�� 1810

  • He disliked the idea of Undine's being too frequently seen with Van Degen, whose Parisian reputation was not fortified by the connections that propped it up in New York; but he did not want to interfere with her pleasure, and he was still wondering what to say when, as the door closed, she turned to him gaily.

    The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1899

  • It was understood that Ralph, on their return, should renounce the law for some more paying business; but this seemed the smallest of sacrifices to make for the privilege of calling Undine his wife; and besides, he still secretly hoped that, in the interval, his real vocation might declare itself in some work which would justify his adopting the life of letters.

    The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1899

  • She played all manner of childish tricks on her husband, her foster parents, and even the venerable Priest, and when the old woman began to check her, one or two words from Huldbrand, who gravely called Undine "his wife," reduced her to silence.

    Famous Stories Every Child Should Know Various 1880

  • She, on the other hand, would not hear of this, and told us that she thought she had been called Undine by her parents, and that

    Undine Friedrich Heinrich Karl Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqu�� 1810

  • There is also, of much later date, a wild and poetical fiction for which we are indebted to the same source, called Undine, from the pen of Lamotte

    Lives of the Necromancers William Godwin 1796

  • The additional context provided by Spence's recounting of the myth proved useful, as the music revealed a water-like interplay of surface and depth that recalled Undine's origins.

    The Santa Barbara Independent stories 2010

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