Word of the day Ambrosia • \am-BROH-zhee-uh\ • noun 1 a : the food of the Greek and Roman gods b : the ointment or perfume of the gods 2 : something extremely pleasing to taste or smell 3 : a dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut Examples: The company drew criticism for advertising the childrens medicine as if it were ambrosia. The pork loin was animal ambrosia nestled tenderly in great gravy. My taste buds treasure the memory…. — Tony Stein, The Virginian-Pilot, April 20, 2014 Did you know? Ambrosia literally means immortality in Greek; it is derived from the Greek word ambrotos (immortal), which combines the prefix a- (meaning not) with mbrotos (mortal). In Greek and Roman mythology, only the immortals—gods and goddesses—could eat ambrosia. Those mythological gods and goddesses also drank nectar, the original sense of which refers to the drink of the gods. Nectar (in Greek, nektar) may have implied immortality as well; nektar is believed to have carried the literal meaning overcoming death. While the ambrosia of the gods implied immortality, we mere mortals use ambrosia in reference to things that just taste or smell especially delicious. Similarly, nectar can now simply mean something delicious to drink.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 13:16:41 +0000
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