In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
MERMAID
mermaid
(noun) half woman and half fish; lives in the sea
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
mermaid (plural mermaids)
A mythological creature with a woman's head and upper body, and a tail of a fish.
(as a modifier) Coloured a brilliant turquoise.
(obsolete) A prostitute.
Synonyms
• (mythological creature): mergirl, merlady, mermaiden, merwoman
• (prostitute): hooker, lady of the night; see also prostitute
Hypernyms
• (mythological creature):merperson
Hyponyms
• (mythological creature): mermother, merqueen
Holonyms
• (mythological creature): merfolk
Coordinate terms
• (mythological creature): melusine, nixie, siren
Source: Wiktionary
Mer"maid, n. Etym: [AS. mere lake, sea. See Mere lake, and maid.]
Definition: A fabled marine creature, typically represented as having the upper part like that of a woman, and the lower like a fish; a sea nymph, sea woman, or woman fish.
Note: Chaucer uses this word as equivalent to the siren of the ancients. Mermaid fish (Zoöl.) the angel fish (Squatina).
– Mermaid's glove (Zoöl.), a British branched sponge somewhat resembling a glove.
– Mermaid's head (Zoöl.), a European spatangoid sea urchin (Echinocardium cordatum) having some resemblance to a skull.
– Mermaid weed (Bot.), an aquatic herb with dentate or pectinate leaves (Proserpinaca palustris and P. pectinacea).
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
26 June 2025
DISPIRITEDLY
(adverb) in a dispirited manner without hope; “the first Mozartian opera to be subjected to this curious treatment ran dispiritedly for five performances”
Coffee Trivia
