How to spell mermaid

hear itmer·maid/'mɜr,meɪd/nounSilent and tricky

What it means: A mythical creature that is half woman and half fish.

In a sentence: The mermaid swam happily in the ocean.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as mermade or mirmaid.

Same family: merman, merfolk, sirena, fairy-tale, mythical. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Mermaid” comes from Old English and related Germanic words meaning “sea” plus “maiden” or “girl.” Similar sea-woman creatures appear in many cultures, such as the Greek sirens and the Slavic rusalka.

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