Etymologically
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nectar

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnɛk.tar][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnɛk.tar][1]

Forms

nectar n sg (genitive nectaris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek νέκταρ (néktar, “drink of the gods”).[2][3][4][1] Köbler calls the further origin of the Greek word unexplained;[5] Wiktionary and Etymonline take it, perhaps, as an old poetic compound of Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“death, to perish”) and Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to overcome”), “overcoming death”.[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Varro, Lucretius and Cicero on, mostly in the poets.[4] The OLD's first quotation is from Varro's Menippean Satires, which names ambrosia and nectar together.[2] Festus explains it as the Greek word for the drink of the gods.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is the drink of the gods: Cicero doubts that the gods delight in ambrosia or nectar, and Ovid has ambrosia mixed with sweet nectar touch a mortal's mouth and make him a god.[3][2] It is a type of sweetness, as Lucretius' flower of nard breathing nectar to the nostrils.[2] The poets give the name to other sweet liquids: Virgil to new wine and to the honey bees store in their cells, Ovid to milk in the udder.[2] The TLL notes that it is used only in the singular.[4] Late glossaries explain it as honey, wine, a sweet odour, sweetness, and as the drink of the angels.[4] British Medieval Latin uses it of the sweet fluid of plants and of honey, and figuratively.[7] English borrowed nectar in the 1550s.[6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro names ambrosia and nectar together.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the scent of nard.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the drink of the gods.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of wine and of honey.[2]
  • 1550s – English nectar.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The drink of the gods, nectar;[2][3][1] a type of sweetness.[2]
  2. (poetic) Any sweet liquid: wine, honey, milk.[2][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The sweet fluid of plants; honey.[7]

Word family

  • nectareus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press