Refine this word faster
Nepenthes
Definitions
- 1 A drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief. uncountable
"[A]ll ye (whom I ſee here preſente) doe fare as if ye were well whittled, and thoroughly moyſted with the Nectar wine of Homericall godds, not without a portion of that iuyce of that meruailous herbe Nepenthes, whiche hath force to put ſadneſſe and meloncholie from the herte: […]"
- 2 plural of nepenthe. archaic, form-of, plural
- 3 A Southeast Asian carnivorous plant of the genus Nepenthes; a monkey cup or tropical pitcher plant. uncountable
"And how marvellous were the shapes of the nepenthes, how beautiful the colour, how delicate in form!"
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin nēpenthes (“a drug bringing relief from grief”), from Ancient Greek νηπενθές (nēpenthés), neuter of νηπενθής (nēpenthḗs, “sorrow-banishing”), from νη- (nē-, “not”) + πένθος (pénthos, “grief”) (from πάσχειν (páskhein), present active infinitive of πάσχω (páskhō, “to be ill or injured in a certain way; to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷendʰ- (“to endure, to suffer”)). Compare French népenthès (“a plant from which a drug supposedly bringing relief from grief may be obtained; such a drug”).
From nepenthe + -s.
See also for "nepenthes"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: nepenthes