different between nymphette vs nymphet

English

Noun

nymphette (plural nymphettes)

1. Alternative form of nymphet
   • 1976, Arthur Calder-Marshall, The grand century of the lady (page 81)

     William Douglas was a Scotsman, as canny in his seduction of teenage girls, nymphettes who did not have to be necessarily virgin provided they were kittenish, as he was in his betting on near certain odds.

French

Etymology

From nymphe +? -ette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??.f?t/

Noun

nymphette f (plural nymphettes)

1. A small nymph.
2. A sexually attractive adolescent girl or young woman; nymphet.

Further reading

• “nymphette” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Alternative forms

• nymphette

Etymology

From nymph +? -et (“diminutive”), first attested 1612. The second sense was popularized by Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita.

Noun

nymphet (plural nymphets)

1. (obsolete) A small nymph. [17th-19th c.]
   • 1612 Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion I. xi. Argt. 171:

     Of the nymphets sporting there In Wyrrall, and in Delamere.

2. A sexually attractive girl or young woman. [from 20th c.]

Usage notes

More common than the alternative spelling nymphette, which uses the more standard feminine suffix -ette.

Synonyms

• jailbait, lolita, nymph

Translations

References

• The changing English language, Brian Foster, 1968, pp. 185–186 – on spelling nymphet versus nymphette