nai ad, naId

[Lat. naias (gen it. naiad is ), from Gr. nat as (gen it. natados )=a water-nymph, from nao to flow; Fr. natade; Ital. najade: Sp. nayade.] 1. Gr. & Rom. Myth .: A water-nymph; one of a number of female deities who presided over fountains, rivers, brooks, . The number of the godde es was indefinite. In his Georgies (iv.) Virgil enumerates sixteen; and Ovid, in his Elegies (iii. 64), speaks of at least one hundred in the river Anio. The most beautiful of the naiads is said to have been Egle; and, according to Homer, many of the old Greek heroes were the offspring of these deities, who are represented as beautiful women, having their heads crowned with rushes, and reclining against urns from which water is flowing. 2. Bot . ( pl .): The English name given by Lindley to the order Naiadacem (q. v.). 3. Zool.: One of the Union ide. IMG:content-1546.png:[blocks in formation] 2. Blasting : A taper copper rod used in tamping, to make a hole by which the fuse or train may reach the charge. Γ (1) On the nail : On the spot; at once; without delay; as, to pay money on the nail . (2) To hit the nail on the head: To hit upon the for or cause of anything.