Word of the Day

: June 1, 2019

nectar

noun NEK-ter

What It Means

1 a : the drink of the Greek and Roman gods

b : something delicious to drink

c : a beverage of fruit juice and pulp

2 : a sweet liquid that is secreted by the nectaries of a plant and is the chief raw material of honey

nectar in Context

"Hummingbirds need to eat a third to a half of their body weight daily to fuel their high-energy lifestyle, Allen said. Their diet includes nectar for carbohydrates and insects for protein." — Kym Pokorny, The World (Coos Bay, Oregon), 4 Apr. 2019

"When Drew Barrymore's nutritionist, Kimberly Snyder, recently shared her Pomegranate Kale Salad recipe, I noticed something interesting. She uses coconut nectar to add a touch of sweetness to the base of white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil." — Tehrene Firman, Well + Good, 21 Mar. 2019

Did You Know?

Nectar is often mentioned in conjunction with ambrosia, the food of the Greek and Roman gods. For centuries, English speakers have used ambrosia to refer to something with an extremely pleasing taste or smell, and nectar to refer to a delicious drink, especially a fruit juice. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, however, the powers of nectar and ambrosia far exceeded those of any earthly fare; consuming nectar and ambrosia gave the gods their immortality. In Greek, the literal meanings of ambrosia and nectar are "immortality" and "overcoming death," respectively. Nektar is believed to be a compound of Greek nek- (probably akin to Latin nec-, meaning "death") and -tar (probably akin to Sanksrit tarati, meaning "he overcomes or crosses over").