# nymphaea

> English word · Noun · IPA /nɪmˈfiːə/

## Definitions
1. the European white water lily.
2. Any species of the genus Nymphaea.

## Etymology
From Latin nymphaea, from Ancient Greek νυμφαῖα (numphaîa), feminine singular form of νυμφαῖος (numphaîos, “sacred to the nymphs”), from νύμφη (númphē, “nymph”).
Sense 2 is a semantic loan from translingual Nymphaea, from the same Latin and Greek.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/nymphaea