ambrosia English · revision 2399

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /æmˈbɹoʊʒə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|ambrosia]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[der|grc|ἀμβροσία|tr=ambrosía|t=food of the gods; immortality]],^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the noun use of the feminine of ''ambrósios'' “divine, of the immortals”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) from ''ámbrotos'' “immortal”,^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[af|grc|ἀ-|-μβροτος|tr1=a-|tr2=-mbrotos|t1=not|t2=mortal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) The second element is related to ''brotós'' “mortal” and to Latin ''mortuus'' “dead” and English ''murder'',^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[ine-pro|*mer-|t=to rub away, harm; to die]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD) Barnhart allows a passage through Middle French ''ambroysie'';^(Barnhart 1995) Random House notes that it replaced Middle English ''ambrose''.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The food or drink of the gods in Greek myth, believed to give immortality.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD) Etymonline dates it to the 1560s, the OED's first quotation for the drink sense to 1567, Barnhart to 1555 and Random House to 1545–55,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) while Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 15th century.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the food of the gods, ambrosia was their drink (1567) and their perfumed anointing oil (1667).^(OED 1989) From the 1680s the name was given to delicious drinks and foods for mortals,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and by 1731 to anything delightful to taste or smell.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Early herbalists applied it to various plants,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in botany it became the genus name of the ragweeds.^(OED 1989) In the United States it also names a fruit dessert of oranges and shredded coconut.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1567 – the fabled drink of the gods.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – the fabled food of the gods.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1597 – the name of various plants among the herbalists.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1609 – bee-bread.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1667 – the unguent or anointing oil of the gods.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1685 – a fruit drink or perfumed beverage.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1731 – anything divinely sweet to taste or smell.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1896 – a fungus that wood-boring beetles feed on.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mythology)'' The food of the Greek and Roman gods, which conferred immortality; also their ointment or perfume.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something especially delicious to taste or smell.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A dessert of oranges and shredded coconut, sometimes with pineapple.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A mixture of pollen and nectar prepared by bees as food for their larvae; bee-bread.^(Wiktionary)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ambrosial]]

+ * [[ambrosially]]

+ * [[ambrosian]]

+ * [[ambrosia beetle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nectar]]

+ * [[mortal]]

+ * [[murder]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}