dryad

American  

[drahy-uhd, -ad] / ˈdraɪ əd, -æd /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

plural

dryads, dryades

1. a deity or nymph of the woods.

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dryad British  

/ ˈdraɪəd, -æd, draɪˈædɪk /

noun

1. Greek myth a nymph or divinity of the woods

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Other Word Forms

• dryadic adjective

Etymology

Origin of dryad

1545–55; extracted from Greek Dryádes, plural of Dryás, derivative of drŷ ( s ) tree, oak

Example Sentences

Brilliantly rendered by Rebecca Benson, she shins up trees like a dryad, only to be told by her would-be boyfriend, "you smell like an infected bandage".

From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2013

If you stray off the path a jean-clad dryad yells you back on the right course.

From The Guardian • Aug. 25, 2012

Behind them, he glimpsed a girl-formed dryad step from the apple tree from which he had plucked the apples.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

“If she can’t walk,” said the dryad, “how is she going to go through the maze?”

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

“Even if I make the potion,” Petroc said, “I can’t administer it. D’you understand me? It needs to be heated by dryad fire, and there are—you may have noticed—no dryads on this forsaken island.”

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell