Editing Mermaid (section)

{{Short description|Legendary aquatic creature with an upper body in human female form}}
{{About|fish-bodied female merfolk|the males|merman|the people|merfolk|other uses}}
{{Good article}}
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{{Infobox mythical creature
| name = Mermaid
| image = John William Waterhouse A Mermaid.jpg
| caption = [[John William Waterhouse]], ''[[A Mermaid]]'' (1900).
| Grouping = Mythological
| Sub_Grouping = [[Water spirit]]
| Country = Worldwide
}}

In [[folklore]], a '''mermaid''' is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.<ref name="oxforddictionaries1"/> Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as storms, [[shipwreck]]s, and drownings (cf. {{section link||Omens}}). In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.

The male equivalent of the mermaid is the [[merman]], also a familiar figure in folklore and [[heraldry]]. Although traditions about and reported sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are in folklore generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as [[merfolk]] or merpeople.

The Western concept of mermaids as beautiful, seductive singers may have been influenced by the [[Siren (mythology)|sirens]] of [[Greek mythology]], which were originally half-birdlike, but came to be pictured as half-fishlike in the Christian era. Historical accounts of mermaids, such as those reported by [[Christopher Columbus]] during his exploration of the [[Caribbean]], may have been sightings of [[manatee]]s or similar aquatic mammals. While there is no evidence that mermaids exist outside folklore, reports of mermaid sightings continue to the present day.

Mermaids have been a popular [[Sea in culture|subject of art and literature]] in recent centuries, such as in [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s [[fairytale fantasy|literary fairy tale]] "[[The Little Mermaid]]" (1837). They have subsequently been depicted in operas, paintings, books, comics, animation, and live-action films.