nereid Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (Greek mythology) any of the 50 sea nymphs who were daughters of the sea god Nereus

WordNet

Ne"re*id noun
Etymology
L. Nereis, -idis, gr. , , a daughter of Nereus, a nymph of the sea, fr. Nereus, an ancient sea god; akin to wet, Skr. nara water, cf. Gr. to flow.
Wordforms
plural E Nereids L Nereides
Definitions
  1. (Class. Myth.) A sea nymph, one of the daughters of Nereus, who were attendants upon Neptune, and were represented as riding on sea horses, sometimes with the human form entire, and sometimes with the tail of a fish.
  2. (Zoöl.) Any species of Nereis. The word is sometimes used for similar annelids of other families.

Webster 1913