nectarn.
/ˈnɛktə/, U.S. /ˈnɛktər/ 1.
a. Chiefly Classical Mythology. The drink of the gods.Occasionally applied to the food of the gods: see quot. 1567, and cf. ambrosia n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [noun] > mythical drink
water of lifec1350
nectar1555
ambrosia1567
nectar dew1601
poppy tea1709
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar
mildeweOE
honeydew1533
nectar1555
honeysuckle1607
honeysuck1608
nectar flood1610
nectar fountain1611
honey-rore1632
honey1733
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. ajv The sweete Ambrosia and Nectar wherwith the goddes are fedde.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest Ep. Ded. sig. Aijv Whose bread is Nectar, and drink Ambrosia, a sugred and confect kinde of Wine.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Nov. f. 47 There liues shee with the blessed Gods in blisse, There drincks she Nectar with Ambrosia mixt.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 1913 He esteemes the nectar of the goddes..to come short..Of this delicious iuice.
1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth ii. 190 They would never have seen seven..hundred years go over their heads, though they had been nourisht with nectar and ambrosia.
c1718 M. Prior Mercury & Cupid 21 We'll take one cooling cup of nectar.
a1794 W. Jones Hymn to Indra in Wks. (1799) VI. 340 While from their diamond flagons The feasting Gods exhaustless nectar sip.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. i. 97 Drink! be the nectar circling thro' your veins The soul of joy.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life i. iii. 21 Not the nectar of the gods..were worth the dash of a wave upon the beach.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. viii. [Lestrygonians] 168 Quaffing nectar at mess with gods, golden dishes, all ambrosial.
1941 C. Barrett Coast of Adventure 14 The old Top-ender drank beer, which, to the men up there, is more desirable than iced nectar is to gods.
1997 C. B. Divakaruni Mistress of Spices 298 In the start of the world, searching for the nectar of immortality, the gods and demons churned up halahal, bitterest poison from the primal ocean.
b. figurative and in figurative contexts.Sometimes difficult to distinguish from figurative uses of sense 2.
ΚΠ
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. N.iii Woords, sweeter, than the sugar sweet, with heauenly nectar drest.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. E Had she then gaue ouer, Such nectar from his lips she had not suckt. View more context for this quotation
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. i. sig. K2 Knowledge is the Nectar, that keepes sweete A perfect Soule. View more context for this quotation
1632 P. Massinger Emperour of East ii. i. sig. E3v May I taste then The nectar of her lip?
1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed 215 That..they may..drink of the everlasting Ambrosian Nectar of Eternity.
1758 S. Johnson Idler 25 Nov. 265 All..implore from Nature's hand the nectar of oblivion.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 244 He inspires Their balmy odours,..And bathes their eyes with nectar.
1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Nov. 406 Twice have I drunk the nectar of your lines, Which high sublim'd my mean born phantasie.
a1918 W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 112 Sweeter than nocturnes Of the wild nightingale Or than love's nectar After life's gall.
1946 Liberty 1 June 39/1 The air of the Ohio greets me..like nectar of coal smoke and attar of catfish.
1993 B. Aldiss Tupolev too Far (BNC) 113 She knew she was more than human—a goddess, born for the eternal burn of love... Even from her ears, golden treacle flowed, which the others lapped like nectar.
2. In extended use.† c. A highly palatable medicinal drink. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
a. Any delicious wine or other drink; (now) esp. a kind of sweetened fruit juice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [noun] > delicious drink
nectar1559
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 400 Claret or good Nectar shalt thou make in this wyse.
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Mivv The Nippitatum, this Huf-cap (as they call it) and this nectar of lyfe.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 200 These fellowes make waste of their ornaments and their figures; they call the worst wine they drinke Nectar.
1662 H. Stubbe (title) The Indian nectar; or, a discourse concerning chocolata.
1718 J. Ozell tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Voy. Levant I. 283 In making Nectar, so called even to this day, they make use of another kind of grape.
1776 R. Chandler Trav. Greece i. 3 It lay opposite to the rugged tract called Arvisia, once famous for its nectar.
1800 T. Moore tr. Anacreon Odes xxxviii Grasp the bowl; in nectar sinking, Man of sorrow, drown thy thinking!
1863 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer Greece & Greeks I. vii. 246 The Malvasia wine is an earthly nectar.
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel I. v. 52 If it rained ‘'64 Leoville’,—which I regard as the most divine of nectars,—I feel sure that I should never raise it to my lips.
1905 E. Wharton House of Mirth i. ii. 29 Lily..had no great fancy to drown it in the railway brew which seemed such nectar to her companion.
1957 Woman's Day (N.Y.) July 85/2 (advt.) Delicious food drinks. More than just juices,..nourishing whole-fruit nectars.
1991 Independent on Sunday 19 May (Review Suppl.) 40/1 His mission..was to help the local wine co-op turn some of its modest plonk into nectar.
1998 Grocer 1 Aug. 42/2 Nectars and fruit juices account for over 40% of its 910,000 tonne output.
b. A fluid containing fructose, glucose, and other sugars that is secreted by the nectaries of plants, esp. to attract pollinators. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew
honeyeOE
nectar1609
mildew1658
stroke1742
bee-wine1818
aphis-sugar1842
1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie i. sig. A3 Where as they gather with the one nectar, with the other ambrosia.
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects i. xv. 94 Thyme, which onely yeeldeth Nectar.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 129 Sweet Honey some condense,..The rest, in Cells apart, the liquid Nectar shut. View more context for this quotation
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 30 As Bees mixt Nectar draw from fragrant Flow'rs.
?1793 S. T. Coleridge Lines Autumnal Evening 52 Love..in Joy's red nectar dips His myrtle flower.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species iv. 93 The bees,..having flown from tree to tree in search of nectar.
1882 Harper's Mag. June 125/2 Like a golden-banded bee,..the young poet has drained all the flowers of literature of their nectar.
1927 F. Balfour-Browne Insects ix. 235 The flowers mostly advertise the presence of the nectar by emitting a scent.
1952 P. Mann Systematics Flowering Plants ii. 134 In many Vetches there are extra-floral nectaries, on the undersides of the stipules, which secrete nectar in sunny weather.
2001 Bird Keeper Feb. 14/2 It also eats fruit and aphids and, with its brush-tipped tongue, is adept at collecting nectar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > medicinal potion or draught > [noun] > specific
barley waterc1320
metheglinc1450
wood-drink1611
nectarine1628
nectar1684
mechoacan-ale1696
clary-wine1727
celery whey1761
mustard whey1769
tar-beer1857
treacle-posset1876
1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 206 Nectar..with Physicians..signifies rather a Medicinal Drink, but with a most delicious colour, taste and smell.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† nectar epistle n. Obsolete† nectar flood n. Obsolete† nectar fountain n. Obsolete
nectar chamber n.
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the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting
honey gland1751
nectarium1753
nectary1759
nectar chamber1865
nectar gland1877
1865 Duke of Argyll in Good Words Mar. 231 Some of these have nectar-chambers of most curious plan.
1964 Evolution 18 203/1 The insect pollinators..thrust their proboscides into the nectar chamber.
1992 Biol. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 45 373 A water jacket formed by the calyx..serves to keep the nectar chamber cool.
nectar cup n.
ΚΠ
a1800 M. Robinson Poet. Wks. (1806) III. 290 Does wine expand the glowing soul?.. Does science smile, and wisdom find The nectar cup expand the mind?
1879 Princeton Rev. Jan.–June 84 The mythology of antiquity was destroyed by the irresistible spread of knowledge... Even Ganymede made off with his jeweled nectar cup.
1892 Bot. Gaz. 17 76 I shall not soon forget the first sight of a humming bird draining dry the nectar cups of the columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis).
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses xix. 499 The bumblebee..can reach into the nectar cup of our red clovers and many other deep tubular flowers.
1992 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89 8988/2 The occurrence of petal homologues and a nectar cup sets a minimum age on one of the most important steps in the history of biotic pollination.
nectar dew n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [noun] > mythical drink
water of lifec1350
nectar1555
ambrosia1567
nectar dew1601
poppy tea1709
1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. ii. sig. C4v This is no kisse, but an Ambrosian bowle, The Nectar deaw of thy delicious sowle.
1882 P. H. Hayne Poems 216/2 Full many a flower..In life's broad garden, rife with sweets, She deftly drains of nectar dew.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > [noun] > letter sent between lovers > elegant love-letter
nectar epistle1622
1622 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman x. 92 What can be..more sweete than that nectar Epistle of his?
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar
mildeweOE
honeydew1533
nectar1555
honeysuckle1607
honeysuck1608
nectar flood1610
nectar fountain1611
honey-rore1632
honey1733
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 15 To allay With dropping nectar floods, the furie of their way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar
mildeweOE
honeydew1533
nectar1555
honeysuckle1607
honeysuck1608
nectar flood1610
nectar fountain1611
honey-rore1632
honey1733
1611 R. Brathwait Golden Fleece Flow thou for euer sweetest of all sweets, Whose Nectar fountains relisheth our gall.
a1618 W. Raleigh Remains (1644) 256 Over the silver Mountains, Where springs the Nectar Fountains.
nectar stream n.
ΚΠ
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. C4 Imbathe your Phoenix quils in Nectar streames Of milken showrs, that Juno's breasts did raine.
1757 W. Thompson Progress of Sickness in Poems Several Occasions II. iii. 262 'Tis the Nectar-stream Which feeds and elevates seraphic Love—Health is Disease, Life Death, without a Friend.
1827 R. Emmons Fredoniad xxiv. 134 A nectar stream runs murmuring at their feet.
C2. With adjectives.† nectar-spouting adj. Obsolete† nectar-streaming adj. Obsolete† nectar-tongued adj. Obsolete
nectar-breathing adj.
ΚΠ
c1600 Pilgrimage iv, in Three Parnassus Plays (1949) 116 One touche of her sweete Nectar breathinge mouth.
a1856 J. G. Gates Poet. Wks. (1859) 146 Bear these nectar-breathing blossoms, Hovering round on rustling pinions, Drop them on my mossy pillow.
2000 Child Life (Nexis) 1 June 4 Nectar-eating, nectar-breathing, and nectar mad, she could not feel, hear, or see the death-white petals of the flower closing over her.
nectar-dropping adj.
ΚΠ
1594 M. Drayton Ideas Mirrour sig. C3 Where..Myrh-breathing Zephyre..Gently distils his Nectar-dropping showers.
1852 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 490 Intwined about with nectar-dropping flowers.
nectar-feeding adj.
ΚΠ
1892 Missouri Bot. Garden Ann. Rep. 1 110 Nectar-feeding insects seek it..at the base of the stigma or of the petals.
1961 Science 19 May 1594/3 Saguaro pollen has been found in the stomach and fecal material of nectar-feeding bats.
2002 Condor 104 672 When nectar is dilute, nectar-feeding birds must ingest relatively large volumes.
nectar-loving adj.
ΚΠ
1866 Duke of Argyll Reign of Law i. 38 Baits to tempt the nectar-loving Lepidoptera.
1996 Science 22 Nov. 1300/3 All three of these nectar-loving birds winter in Latin American shade-coffee plantations.
nectar-secreting adj.
ΚΠ
1860 J. D. Hooker Let. 27 Apr. in C. Darwin Corr. (1993) VIII. 169 A group, with nectar-secreting surface on one side of flower.
1995 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 82 1300/2 Section Platyparkia has, in addition to fertile flowers, specialized nectar-secreting flowers borne on the distal portion of the capitulum.
nectar-seeking adj.
ΚΠ
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 63 A very paradise for the nectar-seeking bee.
1990 J. M. Waterhouse et al. Your Body Clock (BNC) Their responses affect the habits of nectar-seeking insects.
ΚΠ
1601 J. Weever Mirror of Martyrs sig. E7 By Elysiums Nectar-spouting fountaines.
ΚΠ
1755 T. Warton Pleasures of Melancholy in R. Dodsely Coll. Poems IV. 224 Tho' Venus..With her on nectar-streaming fruitage feast.
1793 W. Kendall Poems v. 72 Pour the nectar-streaming kiss, Bathe his ravish'd soul in bliss!
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adjective] > having pleasing speech or eloquent
well-speakingOE
renablec1300
fair-speakinga1398
well-tonguedc1480
honey-mouthed1539
golden-mouthed1542
sweet-mouthed1542
fine-mouthed?1549
silver-tongued1592
silver1594
gold-mouthed1595
honey-tongued1595
nectar-tongued1596
tongue-gilt1608
feather-tongueda1618
chrysostomatical1623
dulciloquent1656
sweet-spoken1716
sweet-lipped1783
chrysostomic1816
smooth-spoken1821
superfluent1822
honey-lipped1833
nice spoken1852
articulate1892
1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. Fv Nectar-tongu'd Sydney, Englands Mars, and Muse.
C3.
nectar bird n. a bird that feeds on nectar; spec. a sunbird (family Nectariniidae).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Nectariniidae (sun-bird)
sugar-eater1796
sugar-bird1798
sunbird1826
nectar bird1842
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 284/2 The difference between the two structures is softened down by the intervention of the nectar-birds (Nectarinia, Ill.).
1858 A. M. Redfield Zoöl. Sci. p. vii Tenuirostres. Five families... Cinnyridæ or Nectarinidæ, Sun-birds, Honey-suckers or Nectar Birds.
nectar gland n. Botany = nectary n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting
honey gland1751
nectarium1753
nectary1759
nectar chamber1865
nectar gland1877
1877 Nature 7 June 100/2 The nectar-glands at the base of the fronds of the brake fern..which are visited by ants for the sake of their sweet secretion.
1940 C. P. Clausen Entomophagous Insects 439 They feed upon honeydew..and upon various plant secretions, particularly of the nectar glands.
1997 Internat. Jrnl. Plant Sci. 158 S90/1 Four of seven lauralean families have stamens..with large, paired nectar glands at the filament bases.
nectar guide n. Botany a marking of contrasting colour or a structural feature of a flower that guides pollinators to its nectar supply; (also) these markings or features collectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting > markings showing location of
honeyguide1879
nectar mark1881
nectar guide1885
pathfinder1889
nectar spot1892
1885 Bot. Gaz. 10 296 A proboscis (or needle) thrust down the line of the nectar guides passes between contiguous anthers.
1906 J. R. A. Davis tr. P. Knuth Handbk. Flower Pollination I. 96 These Nectar-guides..are naturally only present in such flowers as are visited by insects during the day.
2000 Canad. Jrnl. Bot. 78 1164 Lower lips may be maintained in some hummingbird flower species, because they are preadaptations that act as nectar guides for hummingbirds.
nectar mark n. Botany rare a nectar guide.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting > markings showing location of
honeyguide1879
nectar mark1881
nectar guide1885
pathfinder1889
nectar spot1892
1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 13 If, now, an insect in search of nectar is attracted to the flower, the purple blotches or nectar marks catch its eye.
1906 J. R. A. Davis tr. P. Knuth Handbk. Flower Pollination I. 6 The day flowers are adorned with nectar marks.
nectar spot n. Botany rare a nectar guide, esp. one that is round or oval.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting > markings showing location of
honeyguide1879
nectar mark1881
nectar guide1885
pathfinder1889
nectar spot1892
1892 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Nectar Nectar marks are also called nectar spots.
1906 J. R. A. Davis tr. P. Knuth Handbk. Flower Pollination II. 144 The nectar-spots are yellow or orange.
nectar spur n. Botany (in certain flowers) an elongated, nectar-containing tube that typically forms a hollow extension from the rear of a petal or sepal.
ΚΠ
1881 Psyche 3 257 The nectar spur is perforated by ants.
1955 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 11 343 The nectar spur was curved and elongated in Gymnadenia conopsea.
2004 I. Arbel Amazing Plants 14/1 (caption) Darwin's Orchid (Anagraecum sesquipedale). When Charles Darwin discovered this orchid in Madagascar, the flower's foot-long nectar spur, or tube, puzzled him.
Derivatives
ˈnectarlike adj.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Sweet, pleasant, Nectar-like.
1893 J. Fiske Let. 4 Mar. (1940) 621 A mighty good dinner at Tony Faust's with Swiss cheese, pumpernickel; and nectar-like beer in stone mugs.
1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 2 May d14/1 The pseudoflower's petals exude a sugary, nectarlike liquid.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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