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

Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels He hath sent thee Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!

From The Golden Treasury of American Songs and Lyrics by Knowles, Frederic Lawrence

I am alone— Then wherefore not inhale that deeper draught, That sweet nepenthe which these other two, When burning, shall dispense?

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848 by Conrad, Robert Taylor

Related Words

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• painkiller
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• tranquilizer