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Definition of "nepenthe" []

  • A drug mentioned in the Odyssey as a remedy for grief. (noun)
  • Something that induces forgetfulness of sorrow or eases pain. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "nepenthe" in a sentence
  • "Egyptians they found something they called nepenthe, and the Theban women knew how to compound it."
  • "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."
  • "Written references to what Homer called nepenthe, the "potent destroyer of grief," date to the ninth century BC."