nymph /(nĭmf)/

nymph

n.
  1. A goddess of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters. (Class. Myth.)
    Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas?
  2. A lovely young girl; a maiden; a damsel.
    Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remembered.
  3. The pupa of an insect; a chrysalis. (Zool.)
  4. Any one of a subfamily (Najades) of butterflies including the purples, the fritillaries, the peacock butterfly, etc.; -- called also naiad. (Zool.)