nepenthes

Syllables: ne·pen·thes/nɪˈpɛnθiːz/US/nəˈpɛnθiz/

nepenthes noun: a drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief. Also the plural of nepenthe.

Noun

nepenthes (uncountable)

A drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief.
- [A]ll ye (whom I ſee here preſente) doe fare as if ye were well whittled, and thoroughly moyſted with the Nectar wine of Homericall godds, not without a portion of that iuyce of that meruailous herbe Nepenthes, whiche hath force to put ſadneſſe and meloncholie from the herte: […]1549, Desiderius Erasmus, “Folie Speaketh”, in Thomas Chaloner, transl., The Praise of Folie. Moriæ Encomivm: A Booke Made in Latyne by that Great Clerke Erasmus Roterodame. Englisshed by Sir Thomas...
- 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...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...
A Southeast Asian carnivorous plant of the genus Nepenthes; a monkey cup or tropical pitcher plant.
- And how marvellous were the shapes of the nepenthes, how beautiful the colour, how delicate in form!1863, Spenser [Buckingham] St. John, “Introduction”, in Life in the Forests of the Far East; or Travels in Northern Borneo. … With Numerous Illustrations. In Two Volumes, 2nd rev. edition, volume I...
- NEPENTHA′CEÆ, Nepenths, a natural order of Exogenous Plants inhabiting the damper and warmer parts of Asia, and having, in the place of leaves, large hollow bodies furnished with a lid, and containing water secreted from a peculiar glandular apparatus with which they are lined. […] [T]he adherent...1867, “NEPENTHA′CEÆ”, in Charles Knight, editor, Natural History or Second Division of “The English Cyclopædia”, volume III, London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co., 11, Bouverie St., Fleet St., E.C.; New...
Synonyms:

monkey cup

Also used as

nepenthes is also the plural of nepenthe.

Synonyms of nepenthes

Forms of nepenthes

alternative form	nepenth
alternative form	nepenthe

Origin of nepenthes

Borrowed from Latin nēpenthes (“a drug bringing relief from grief”), from Ancient Greek νηπενθές (nēpenthés), neuter of νηπενθής (nēpenthḗs, “sorrow-banishing”), from νη- (nē-, “not”) + πένθος (pénthos, “grief”) (from πάσχειν (páskhein), present active infinitive of πάσχω (páskhō, “to be ill or injured in a certain way; to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷendʰ- (“to endure, to suffer”)). Compare French népenthès (“a plant from which a drug supposedly bringing relief from grief may be obtained; such a drug”).

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from nepenthes

Questions about nepenthes

What does nepenthes mean?: Nepenthes means a drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief.
What part of speech is nepenthes?: Nepenthes is a noun.
How do you pronounce nepenthes?: Nepenthes is pronounced /nɪˈpɛnθiːz/ (UK).

Words near nepenthes in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: nepenthes (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nepenthes.wav.

Cite this entry: “nepenthes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nepenthes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.