English
nectar
Nectar comes from Ancient Greek νέκταρ ‘nourishment of the gods’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνέκταρnéktar‘nourishment of the gods’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnectar
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνέκταρnéktar‘nourishment of the gods’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnectar
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto IV: “They pourd in soveraine balme and Nectar good, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’
innocent, innocence, nuisance, obnoxious, innocuous, noxious, necropolis, internecine, 18 more
Today it means
noun The drink of the gods.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek νέκταρ / nectar