ambrosia

American  

[am-broh-zhuh] / æmˈbroʊ ʒə /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. the food of the gods.

2. something especially delicious to taste or smell.

3. a fruit dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut and sometimes pineapple.

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ambrosia British  

/ æmˈbrəʊzɪə /

noun

1. classical myth the food of the gods, said to bestow immortality Compare nectar

2. anything particularly delightful to taste or smell

3. another name for beebread

4. any of various herbaceous plants constituting the genus Ambrosia, mostly native to America but widely naturalized: family Asteraceae (composites). The genus includes the ragweeds

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ambrosia Cultural  

1. The food of the gods in classical mythology. Those who ate it became immortal.

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Discover More

Particularly delicious food is sometimes called “ambrosia.”

Other Word Forms

• ambrosial adjective
• ambrosially adverb

Etymology

Origin of ambrosia

1545–55; < Latin < Greek: immortality, food of the gods, noun use of feminine of ambrósios, equivalent to a- a- ⁶ + -mbros- (combining form of brotōs mortal; akin to Latin mortuus dead, murder ) + -ios adj. suffix; replacing Middle English ambrose, ambrosie < Old French ambroise < Latin

Example Sentences

For some, though, “fruit salad” still conjures images of syrup-slicked fruit orbs — maybe even veering into ambrosia territory.

From Salon

One of his early experiments was ambrosia — a salad so retro it borders on parody, but so striking in his hands it practically glows.

From Salon

The Kentucky volunteers also have to watch over the trees throughout the year to protect them from the destructive ambrosia beetles, whose larvae would quickly kill half of the orchard if left unchecked.

From Salon

Mostly a holiday treat for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, ambrosia of yore was a humble delight.

From Seattle Times

The zombie is ambrosia for the mind of the horror-media buff: it possesses the visual and visceral spectacle of necrosis, the ever-present symbology of death, the excitement of the interminably strange.

From Salon