Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A drug mentioned in the Odyssey as a remedy for grief.
- noun Something that induces forgetfulness of sorrow or eases pain.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
nepenthes . 1.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A drug used by the ancients to give relief from pain and sorrow; -- by some supposed to have been opium or hasheesh. Hence, anything soothing and comforting.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Egyptians they found something they called nepenthe, and the Theban women knew how to compound it.
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The delirium it produces is known to be so very pleasing that Pope has supposed this to have been designed by Homer when he describes the delicious draught prepared by Helen, called nepenthe, which exhilarated the spirits and banished from the mind the recollection of woe.
The History of Sumatra Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And Manners Of The Native Inhabitants William Marsden 1795
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Written references to what Homer called nepenthe, the "potent destroyer of grief," date to the ninth century BC.
Chicago Reader 2010
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Quaff, oh quaff this kind of nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore.
CNN Transcript - Special Event: Senators Clinton and Schumer Read "The Raven" - January 30, 2001 2001
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Unguents and astringents were in use in the physician's art, and there is reference to "nepenthe," a narcotic drug, and also to the use of sulphur as a disinfectant.
Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine James Sands Elliott
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Then to restore a more cheerful atmosphere, Helen casts "nepenthe" into the wine, thanks to which beneficent drug all soon forget their woes.
The Book of the Epic 1894
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Soothed by "nepenthe," all retire to rest, and when morning dawns
The Book of the Epic 1894
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The band's growing reputation as an amazing live experience in conjunction with the breakout success of their debut album "nepenthe" has garnered a dedicated following and mainstream buzz that continues to grow.
IGN DS 2010
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The main character, Solace, is a vampire, but I wouldn't really classify it as a vampire novel, seeing as how she's not preoccupied with biting people so much as figuring out who the faceless man following her is, making friends with a group of Rare, drinking nepenthe and, just occasionally, surviving.
kateelliott: Not As Bad As I Feared kateelliott 2009
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Then came nepenthe and scholium, aleatoric and consuetude.
Pool of National Spelling Bee competitors whittled down to 48 2010
brtom commented on the word nepenthe
Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone,
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena
Is of such power to stir up joy as this ...
Milton, Comus
December 16, 2006
orbitalcombustion commented on the word nepenthe
From Odysseus, a substance or drug that relieves one of all worry and pain.
October 6, 2007
orbitalcombustion commented on the word nepenthe
From Odysseus, a substance or drug that relieves one of all worry and pain.
October 6, 2007
reesetee commented on the word nepenthe
Think it's over-the-counter yet? ;-)
October 6, 2007
rocksinmypockets commented on the word nepenthe
Ah, but the relief that nepenthes tempts us with comes by way of forgetting. Thus, having no recollection of our prior woes, isn't it likely we will simply find our way right back to worry and pain?
October 10, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word nepenthe
Oh, way to take all the fun out of getting wasted, rocks....
;-)
October 10, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word nepenthe
"...he was still so stupid that he might have been stuffed with poppy, mandrake and nepenthe, and it took him some moments to understand the steward's cry, 'Come on, sir, We'm sunk.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque, 242
February 29, 2008
beautifulpyre commented on the word nepenthe
A nepenthe is said to be a potion that soothes by causing a person to forget bad memories.
I first came across it as the name of the main character in The Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip (love her!).
April 30, 2009
milosrdenstvi commented on the word nepenthe
Quaff, oh quaff.
September 30, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word nepenthe
Nevermore. I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe.
September 30, 2011
sionnach commented on the word nepenthe
That's because you're always lolling about in the arms of Morphee. Or, as we Irish prefer to say, the arms of Murphy.
September 30, 2011