World ReligionsEdith Wharton
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Dryad and Greek Mythology
The term dryad comes from the Greek word for "oak tree". As the Greeks saw it, every tree (not only oaks) had a spirit. The best known of the dryads was Daphne. The beautiful daughter of a river god, she was desired by the god Apollo; as he was about to capture her, she prayed to her father to save her, and he transformed her into a laurel tree. In her honor, Apollo commanded that the poet who won the highest prize every year be crowned with a laurel wreath. The Greeks' respect for trees unfortunately failed to keep Greece's forests from shrinking greatly over the centuries, and those that remain produce little wood of good quality.
Examples of dryad in a Sentence
Nick Romano, EW.com, 27 July 2023
Merlin and Cosmo are both in their 30s, with dark curly hair and similarly rangy builds, though Merlin’s face is more delicate, as though a distant ancestor might have been part elf or dryad.
—Jennifer Kahn, New York Times, 8 June 2023
Breaking off a piece of the mushroom, Sheldrake pointed out its pores and scaly top, then tentatively identified it as dryad saddle.
—Jennifer Kahn, New York Times, 8 June 2023
Players will start out controlling a centaur with a whip as their dungeon manager, but eventually a dryad enchantress and monkey engineer can also be unlocked, with each master necessitating various styles of gameplay.
—Jason Bennett, Arkansas Online, 24 May 2021
The taste is close to water, only water as if just rained down and sipped from a blossom, with a delicate, attenuated sweetness: what a dryad might live on.
—Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2018
Isaac, the dryad Lena Greenwood, and the fire-spider Smudge lead the efforts to uncover the mystery.
—John Booth, WIRED, 7 Aug. 2012
Dictionary Entries Near dryad
Cite this Entry
“Dryad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dryad. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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dryad
noun
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