Little Mermaid, The
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishLittle Mermaid, TheThe Little MermaidˌLittle ˈMermaid, The a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen in which a mermaid (=a woman with a fish's tail instead of legs) changes her fish's tail for legs, even though this is very painful, because she loves a human prince. But the prince marries a human princess instead, and the little mermaid dies. The story was made into a cartoon film by Walt Disney in 1989. There is a statue of the Little Mermaid at the entrance to the harbour in Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark.