nepenthe

American  

[ni-pen-thee] / nɪˈpɛn θi /

noun

1. a drug or drink, or the plant yielding it, mentioned by ancient writers as having the power to bring forgetfulness of sorrow or trouble.

2. anything inducing a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness, especially of sorrow or trouble.

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nepenthe British  

/ nɪˈpɛnθɪ /

noun

1. a drug, or the plant providing it, that ancient writers referred to as a means of forgetting grief or trouble

2. anything that produces sleep, forgetfulness, or pleasurable dreaminess

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Other Word Forms

• nepenthean adjective

Etymology

Origin of nepenthe

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin nēpenthes, from Greek nēpenthés “herb for soothing,” noun use of neuter of nēpenthḗs “banishing pain,” equivalent to nē- “un-” (negative prefix) + pénth(os) “grief, pain, sorrow” + -ēs adjective suffix

Example Sentences

And the search is more intense than ever for the Unspoiled Spot, where Those Who Know can get away from it all for a quiet taste of nepenthe with good food and a clean bed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Those lyrics, which act upon the mind like nepenthe, are also by Segal, a classics scholar who is driving without a poetic license.

From Time Magazine Archive

For thrill-loving tourists, for the great, near-great and notorious, Catalina had been nepenthe.

From Time Magazine Archive

Still the refrain of the symphony rang in my ears, and I was soothed to rest by the inimitable nepenthe of music.

From The First Violin A Novel by Fothergill, Jessie

And the poor man, now unhappier than before, had to expend his last three sous for spirits of ammonia wherewith to recapture the nepenthe of his first troubles.

From A Book Without A Title by Nathan, George Jean

Related Words

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• painkiller
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