ˌLittle ˈMermaid, The BrE AmE
a ↑ fairy tale by Hans Christian ↑ Andersen in which a ↑ mermaid (=a woman with a fish's tail instead of legs) changes her fish's tail for legs, even though this is very painful, because she loves a human prince. But the prince marries a human princess instead, and the little mermaid dies. The story was made into a ↑ cartoon film by Walt ↑ Disney in 1989. There is a ↑ statue of the Little Mermaid at the entrance to the ↑ harbour in Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark.