nepenthes
/nɪˈpɛnθiːz
/noun
1 (also nepenthe) [mass noun] literary A drug described in Homer’s Odyssey as banishing grief or trouble from a person’s mind.Alcohol and morphine - nepenthe means numbing the soul, numbing your soul....
- They have all drunk the supply-side nepenthe - and simply don't care to hear any debate on this subject.
- Its contents, the nepenthes as administered by Helen to her guests to instill joy, have been consumed.
1.1A drug or potion bringing welcome forgetfulness.Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!...
- More, Freddy frames Lori's father for the murder of Lori's mother (by stabbing, of course), while Lori's father compounds the tension by offering nepenthe, Suspicion-style: ‘At least drink your juice!’
2A plant of a genus that comprises the Old World pitcher plants.
- Genus Nepenthes and family Nepenthaceae.
Origin
Via Latin from Greek nēpenthēs 'dispelling pain', from nē- 'not' + penthos 'grief'; sense 2 is from modern Latin.