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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hamadryad

Hamadryad \Ham"a*dry`ad\ (h[a^]m"[.a]*dr[imac]`[a^]d), n.; pl. E. Hamadryads (-[a^]dz), L. Hamadryades (-dr[imac]"[.a]*d[=e]z). [L. Hamadryas, -adis, Gr. "Amadrya`s; "a`ma together + dry^s oak, tree: cf. F. hamadryade. See Same, and Tree.]

  1. (Class. Myth.) A tree nymph whose life ended with that of the particular tree, usually an oak, which had been her abode.

  2. (Zo["o]l.) A large venomous East Indian snake ( Ophiophagus bungarus), allied to the cobras.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
hamadryad

late 14c., from Greek hamadryas (plural hamadryades) "wood-nymph," fabled to die with her tree, from hama "together" (see same) + drus (genitive dryos) "tree."

Wiktionary
hamadryad

n. 1 (context Greek mythology English) A wood-nymph who was physically a part of her tree; she would die if her tree were felled. 2 The king cobra. 3 A kind of baboon, (taxlink Papio hamadryas species noshow=1), venerated by the ancient Egyptians.

WordNet
hamadryad
  1. n. the nymph or spirit of a particular tree

  2. large cobra of southeastern Asia and the East Indies; the largest venomous snake; sometimes placed in genus Naja [syn: king cobra, Ophiophagus hannan, Naja hannah]

Wikipedia
Hamadryad

A hamadryad (; ) is a Greek mythological being that lives in trees. They are a particular type of dryad, which are a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a certain tree. Some believe that hamadryads are the actual tree, while normal dryads are simply the entities, or spirits, of the trees. If the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For that reason, dryads and the gods punished any mortals who harmed trees. The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:

Their mother, Hamadryas, is immortalized in the name of two genera: that of the cracker butterfly, and that of the northernmost monkey in Asia Minor, the hamadryas baboon. The cracker butterfly is more arboreal than most butterflies, as it commonly camouflages itself on trees. It feeds on sap, rotting fruit and dung. The hamadryas baboon is one of the least arboreal monkeys, but was the most common monkey in Hellenic lands.

Hamadryad is referenced as a whole in Edgar Allan Poe's poem, " Sonnet To Science." Hamadryad is referenced in Anthony Ashley Cooper's (The Third Earl of Shaftesbury) Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1714: Treatise 4, Part 3, Section 1). In Aldous Huxley's Crome Yellow, Anne Wimbush is referred to as "the slim Hamadryad whose movements were like the swaying of a young tree in the wind." George Eliot's character, Philip Wakem, uses the term to describe Maggie Tulliver, in "The Mill on The Floss", Book V, Chapter 3. William Faulkner's character, Januarius Jones, uses this term to describe a young lady in "Soldier's Pay", Chapter 2. Both hamadryads and dryads exist in C. S. Lewis's Narnia.

Hamadryad (disambiguation)

The term hamadryad has several uses:

  • Hamadryad, a kind of nymph in Greek mythology
  • Hamadryad, another term for the king cobra
  • Hamadryas baboon, a kind of baboon
  • hamadryad, an alien species in Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space science fiction novel
  • Hamadryad, a character introduced in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Time Enough for Love
  • Hamadryad (journal), a natural history journal from India
  • Hamadryad, the common name of the butterfly species Tellervo zoilus, endemic to far north Queensland in Australia
  • Three British warships named HMS Hamadryad
  • Royal Hamadryad Hospital, Cardiff

Usage examples of "hamadryad".

Then turning towards the rocks he spread open his arms and invoked the Nymphs, the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the fields, the springs, the woods, and the sea-shore, by the several appellations of Oreads, and Naiads, and Limniads, and Limoniads, and Ephydriads, and Dryads and Hamadryads.

Hamadryad sprinkled it with sharkskin pepper and also with kunai seed, spilling much of both from his shaking hand.

The sun, moon, and stars, are all gods according to his system: Fountains are inhabited by nymphs, and trees by hamadryads: Even monkies, dogs, cats, and other animals often become sacred in his eyes, and strike him with a religious veneration.

He had ambitions to restock its basement vivaria with a private collection of captured animals, prime amongst which would be the preadult hamadryad he had yet to catch.

But I’m married to three of your descendants - Tamara, Ishtar, and Hamadryad - and co-husband to another, Ira Weatheral.

She had grown with it, as hamadryads did, protect-ing it and being protected by it.

If trees had ogres toprotect them instead of cute but helpless hamadryads, veryfew trees would be destroyed.

Dryads and hamadryads have become more attached over time to single trees, with whom they share a symbiotic life.

But it took several years before Ira admitted that there was no reason for him not to marry his own daughter - Hamadryad just smiled and outwaited him.

She showed him how the huge water oaks of the swamp ex -- tended protective spells for the little fish who lived among their roots and helped fertilize them with their droppings, and how the hamadryad, or tree nymph, could be glimpsed if one had the patience to be still and really look for her.

She showed him how the huge water oaks of the swamp extended protective spells for the little fish who lived among their roots and helped fertilize them with their droppings, and how the hamadryad, or tree nymph, could be glimpsed if one had the patience to be still and really look for her.

He was able to identify the exact species of water oak near their cabin, and the variety of hamadryad too.