Word Origin & History
nymphomania1775, in Eng. translation of "Nymphomania, or a Dissertation Concerning the Furor Uterinus," by Fr. doctor M.D.T. Bienville, coined from Gk. nymphe "bride" + mania "madness," perhaps influenced by earlier Fr. nymphomanie. Defined as "a female disease characterized by morbid and uncontrollable sexual
desire." Also coined in 1775 (by Richard Chandler, in "Travels in Greece") was nympholepsy, on model of epilepsy, with second element from stem of Gk. lambanein "to take;" defined as "a state of rapture supposed to be inspired in men by nymphs; esp. an ecstasy or frenzy caused by desire for the unattainable." Nympho "nymphomaniac" is from 1935.