merrymaidn.
/ˈmɛrɪmeɪd/, U.S. /ˈmɛriˌmeɪd/ English regional (Cornwall).
= mermaid n. 1.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > human hybrid > mermaid or merman > mermaid
nicker1340
mermaidc1350
mermaiden1397
sea-maid1600
sea-woman1608
merwoman1811
merrymaid1865
Mammy Water1966
1865 R. Hunt Pop. Romances W. Eng. (1881) 149 The ‘merrymaids’ of the Cornish fishermen and sailors possess the well-recognised features of the mermaid.
1888 L. A. Smith Music of Waters 347 The church of Morva, like most of the churches on the coast of Cornwall, was built by and for fishermen, to whom the superstitions of mermen and ‘merry-maids’ had the familiarity of a creed.
1963 R. M. Nance Gloss. Cornish Sea-words 114 The motor-boat has probably driven away from Cornish waters the last of the ‘merrymaids’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1865