mermaidism

Noun

mermaidism (uncountable)

1. The condition of being a mermaid.
   • There is an understanding that differences of culture, faith, and traditions can create barriers to a successful relationship. And since Prince Eric cannot 'convert' to mermaidism, she converts.2004, Mark I. Pinsky, The Gospel according to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust, page 142
   • With Tami’s growing success in professional mermaidism and being able to live on a houseboat on the water, she feels right at home and completely in her element.2018 November, Heather Magda Serrano, “The Little Mermaid and Houseboats”, in Houseboat Magazine
2. A love of or obsession with mermaid lore and paraphernalia.
   • Really it was time to put an end to lunch picnics and mermaidism.1922, John Paris, Kimono, page 36
   • […] of "mermaidism" in other women, and even selects her clothing and accessories to enhance her connection to the tailed beings.2007, Canadian Book Review Annual, page 273
3. The belief in mermaids as real creatures.
   • The Miscellany of Natural History would have been a more appropriate title,—for what romance can be found in the absurdities of mermaidism or in the “self-immured,” to wit, “Mr. Bartlett's toad, Mr. Bree's toad, Mr. Smith's toad, Mr. Clark's toad," and the toads of other respectable gentlemen.1861 December 7, “Science: Review of The Romance of Natural History By Philip Henry Gosse.”, in The Athenæum, number 1780, page 769
   • Mermaidism, which lifted up its voice in the correspondence columns of the NATION a few weeks ago, has no sound basis in history.1919, The Nation - Volume 25, page 100
4. Synonym of sirenomelia.
   • There is either elephantiasis or dropsy of the left leg, and some disease or accident has resulted in a sort of mermaidism of the right.1949, Carl Dame Clarke, Illustration: Its Technique and Application to the Sciences, page 32
   • It is also of interest that there are 12 cases with radial aplasia and four cases with esophageal atresia among some 200 case reports of sirenomelia, or mermaidism, a severe anomaly of postaxial mesoderm which always includes imperforate anus and lower vertebral defects.1972, The First Conference on the Clinical Delineation of Birth Defects, volume 8 issue 2, page 77

   Synonyms:

   sirenomelia

5. The condition of being partly one thing and partly another; hybridism.
   • But, furthermore, the true Revival of pure Religion, is meeting at this day a still more fearful obstacle, in the system of go-betweenity or theological mermaidism, which has arisen out of the ashes of old defunct infidelity, and is boasting its able champions.1854 July, “Obstacles to Revivals”, in The Freewill Baptist Quarterly, volume 2, page 306
   • As for the competing attractions of the Church, there was certainly a rise in what might be called ecclesiastical mermaidism at this period — that is , an increased interest in the superficial and non-communicative aspects of religious ceremonial, in ritual and vestments for their own sake, in...1954, The Bucknell Review, page 20