19 March 2018
nepenthe
[ni-pen-thee]
noun
1. a drug or drink, or the plant yielding it, mentioned by ancient writers as having the power to bring forgetfulness of sorrow or trouble.
2. anything inducing a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness, especially of sorrow or trouble.
Origin of nepenthe
Latin Greek
1590-1600; < Latin nēpenthes < Greek nēpenthés herb for soothing, noun use of neuter of nēpenthḗs sorrowless, equivalent to nē- not + pénth(os) sorrow + -ēs adj. suffix
Related forms
nepenthean, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for nepenthe
Historical Examples
Perhaps it was a berry of the nepenthe, which brought oblivion.
The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5
Theophile Gautier
This particular preparation of valerian is nepenthe for the nerves.
The Bishop’s Secret
Fergus Hume
In the Odyssey, in connection with Helen, mention is made of nepenthe.
Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern
Edgar Saltus
Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the dews of nepenthe.
Great Inventions and Discoveries
Willis Duff Piercy
I am getting restless again, and there flow the waters of nepenthe.
The Call of the Town
John Alexander Hammerton
I did not find the nepenthe I sought for anywhere on draught, so I went home in disgust.
Belford’s Magazine, Vol. II, No. 3, February 1889
Various
nepenthe was an Egyptian drug that dispelled the memory of whatever is sad.
Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern
Edgar Saltus
I drank of the nepenthe cup, and in it my past was washed out and my soul was drowned.’
The Unknown Sea
Clemence Housman
I do not employ opium as an aid to my social activities; I regard it as nepenthe from them and as a key to a brighter realm.
The Yellow Claw
Sax Rohmer
The other, beneath its bitter lash, becomes a human dynamo, plunging into the nepenthe of toil.
The Lash
Olin L. Lyman
Anagram
he pen ten
Today’s quote
If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.
– Toni Morrison
On this day
19 March 1932 – Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Captain Frank de Groot is arrested when he rides up on his horse and cuts the ribbon before the Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, can cut it. Captain de Groot was a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard who was politically opposed to the more left-wing Premier Lang. De Groot claimed he was protesting that the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Phillip Game, should have opened the Bridge.
19 March 1950 – death of Edgar Rice Burroughs, American science fiction author: Tarzan, Mars series (on which the 2012 movie ‘John Carter‘ was based). Born 1 September 1875.
19 March 1982 – death of Randy Rhoads, American heavy metal guitarist, played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. Rhoads was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, heading to Orlando, Florida when their bus broke down near an airstrip at Leesburg, Florida. While some of the band continued sleeping in the van, the driver (an ex-commercial pilot) took one of the light planes for joy-rides with some of the band members. He didn’t have permission for the flights. Randy Rhoads and make-up artist, Rachel Youngblood were on the second flight. The pilot thought it would be funny to buzz the tour bus by flying as close as possible to it. On the third pass, the plane’s wing clipped the bus causing the plane to spiral out of control and for Rhoads and Youngblood’s heads to smash through the plane’s windshield. The plane severed the top of a pine tree before crashing into a garage at a nearby mansion. Rhoads, Youngblood and the pilot (Andrew Aycock) died instantly, all burnt beyond recognition. In 1987, Ozzy Osbourne released a live album in memory of Rhoads, called ‘Tribute’, it featured Osbourne and Rhoad’s work together. Rhoads was born on 6 December 1956.
19 March 2003 – The Second Gulf War commences as the U.S. led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.