Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Nymph \Nymph\, n. [L. nympha nymph, bride, young woman, Gr. ?:
   cf. F. nymphe. Cf. {Nuptial}.]
   1. (Class. Myth.) A goddess of the mountains, forests,
      meadows, or waters.

            Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep
            Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas ?
                                                  --Milton.

   2. Hence: A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.

            Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered.
                                                  --Shak.

   3. (Zo["o]l.) The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis.

   4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of a subfamily ({Najades}) of
      butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the
      peacock butterfly, etc.; -- called also {naiad}.

Source : WordNet®

nymph
     n 1: (classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually
          depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks
          believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of
          water"
     2: a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the
        dragonfly or mayfly)
     3: a voluptuously beautiful young woman [syn: {houri}]