Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - nymph

 noun  Etymology: Middle English nimphe, from Middle French, from Latin ~a bride, ~, from Greek ~e — more at nuptial  Date: 14th century  1. any of the minor divinities of nature in classical mythology represented as beautiful maidens dwelling in the mountains, forests, trees, and waters  2. girl  3. any of various immature insects; especially a larva of an insect (as a grasshopper, true bug, or mayfly) with incomplete metamorphosis that differs from the imago especially in size and in its incompletely developed wings and genitalia  • ~al adjective