One way to hold nymph: a young female figure who has not yet become the full, finished thing. In the Greek stories she is a girl on the edge of being a bride, tied to one tree or one stream. English keeps that not-yet-grown feeling wherever the word travels — onto a real girl praised in a poem, and onto an insect that is alive and moving but still on its way to being an adult.
From the word’s history
English nymph goes back through Latin nympha to Ancient Greek νύμφη, which meant a bride or a young maiden. The modern uses all sit close to that original 'young, not yet fully grown' picture.
nymph 經拉丁文 nympha 上溯到希臘文 νύμφη，原意是「新娘、年輕女子」。今天的幾個用法都還貼著這個「年輕、尚未長成」的原始畫面。
Wiktionary/kaikki entry for nymph (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:432685916), etymology_text supplied in this packet
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。