oread
/ˈɔːɹi.æd/
oread noun: a mountain nymph; an anthropomorphic appearance of the spirit of a mountain.
Noun
oread (plural oreads or oreades)
- A mountain nymph; an anthropomorphic appearance of the spirit of a mountain.
- Under the various appellations of Oreades, Dryades, Naiades, Limniades, Nereides, they dwelt in mountains, trees, springs, lakes, the sea, where, in caverns and grottos, they passed a life whose occupations resembled those of females of human race.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth
- The imprisoned ringlets are emancipated; 'fresh as the oread from the forest fountain,' you descend—you breathe the incense of the chocolate—not more I hope—and grow conversational and confidential over the green tea, which, with a fragrance beyond all the violets of April, rises to your lip...1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 92
Forms of oread
| plural | oreads |
|---|---|
| plural | oreades |
Origin of oread
From Latin Orēas, Orēadis, from Ancient Greek Ὀρειάς (Oreiás), from ὄρος (óros, “mountain”).
Questions about oread
- What does oread mean?
- Oread means a mountain nymph; an anthropomorphic appearance of the spirit of a mountain.
- What part of speech is oread?
- Oread is a noun.
- How do you pronounce oread?
- Oread is pronounced /ˈɔːɹi.æd/.
- What is the plural of oread?
- The plural of oread is oreads.
Words near oread in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: oread (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “oread.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oread. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.