Dictionary

nepenthe en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /nəˈpɛnθi/ (General-American)
• /nɪˈpɛnθi/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

A back-formation from nepenthes.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative, archaic) Alternative form of nepenthes (“a drug that relieves one of emotional pain, grief or sorrow”).
   alt of nepenthes
   • And in her other hand a cup ſhe hild, The which was with Nepenthe to the brim vpfild. Nepenthe is a drinck of ſouerayne grace, Deuized by the Gods, for to aſſwage Harts grief, and bitter gall away to chace, VVhich ſtirs vp anguiſh and contentious rage: In ſtead thereof ſweet peace and quiet age It doth eſtablish in the troubled mynd. 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. Disposed into Twelue Books, Fashioning XII. Morall Vertues, part II [books IV–VI], London: Printed [by Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, →OCLC, book IV, canto III, stanzas XLII and XLIII, page 49:
   • "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee Respite—respite and Nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore. Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" 1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 144:

Forms