What does mermaid mean?
Word: Mermaid
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Mermaid means a make-believe creature from fairy tales, with the top half of a woman and the body of a fish below.
Word origin: From Old English mere, 'sea', joined to an old English word for a girl.
How do you spell mermaid?
Syllables: mer - maid
Tricky part: The first part is mer, spelt er as in her. Children who spell by sound often write mur or mir there.
Watch out for: murmaid, mirmaid
Memory tip: Long ago, mere was an old English word for the sea, so a mermaid was a girl of the mere. Start with that old mer.
Mermaid in a sentence
Example 1: My little sister drew a mermaid with long green hair.
Example 2: In the story, the mermaid sang to the sailors.
Example 3: Meera wants a mermaid cake for her birthday.
Fun Fact
A small bronze statue called The Little Mermaid sits on a rock by the sea in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was put there in 1913.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
merm_ _d
a) ay
b) ai
c) ea
d) ae
Show answer
b) ai. The end of mermaid takes the a and i pair we see in afraid.
Word Champ
Which of the words cannot be made using the letters in the given word?
mermaid
a) admire
b) rider
c) dream
d) mime
Show answer
b) rider. Rider needs two r's, and mermaid has only one; mime is fine because mermaid has two m's.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form the name of a creature from fairy tales?
a) ramiedm
b) nicoru
c) yrafii
d) gradnno
Show answer
a) ramiedm. Ramiedm holds every letter of mermaid once. Nicoru is one n short of unicorn, gradnno has an extra n for dragon, and yrafii an extra i for fairy.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) mermaid
b) octapus
c) dolphin
d) starfish
Show answer
b) octapus. Octopus has an o after the t, not an a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A mermaid swims with her ___.
a) wings
b) paws
c) tail
d) hooves
Show answer
c) tail
2. Which of these is make-believe, just like a mermaid?
a) a whale
b) a dolphin
c) a genie
d) a parrot
Show answer
c) a genie
