νέκταρ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

Traditionally taken as a poetic compound, from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“to perish, disappear”) + *-tr̥h₂ (“overcoming”), from *terh₂- (“to overcome, pass through, cross over”); thus, literally "overcoming death", and so called because it gave immortality.

However, other theories involving a non-Indo-European borrowing have been proposed. Furnee compares νικάριον (nikárion, “eye salve”), suggesting a possible Pre-Greek origin for both, while Griffith and Levin have suggested borrowings from Egyptian and Semitic, respectively. Beekes appears to be split between the Indo-European and Pre-Greek theories, while expressing skepticism about the Afro-Asiatic proposals.[1]

Pronunciation

 

Noun

νέκτᾰρ • (néktăr) n (genitive νέκτᾰρος); third declension

  1. nectar, the specific nourishment (drink) of the gods

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ νέκτᾰρ; τοῦ νέκτᾰρος (Attic)
Case / # Singular
Nominative τὸ νέκτᾰρ
tò néktăr
Genitive τοῦ νέκτᾰρος
toû néktăros
Dative τῷ νέκτᾰρῐ
tōî néktărĭ
Accusative τὸ νέκτᾰρ
tò néktăr
Vocative νέκτᾰρ
néktăr
Notes:
  • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: νέκταρ (néktar)
  • → Latin: nectar

See also

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “νέκταρ, -αρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1004-5

Further reading

  • “νέκταρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “νέκταρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “νέκταρ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
  • νέκταρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
  • νέκταρ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
  • “νέκταρ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
  • Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • νέκταρ, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek νέκταρ (néktar).

Noun

νέκταρ • (néktar) f (uncountable)

  1. (Greek mythology) nectar (the drink of the gods)
  2. (by extension) an especially delicious drink

Declension

Declension of νέκταρ
singular
nominative νέκταρ (néktar)
genitive νέκταρος (néktaros)
accusative νέκταρ (néktar)
vocative νέκταρ (néktar)

Coordinate terms

Further reading

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