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Nectar is often mentioned in conjunction with ambrosia, the food of the Greek and Roman gods. For centuries, English speakers have used ambrosia to refer to something with an extremely pleasing taste or smell, and nectar to refer to a delicious drink, especially a fruit juice. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, however, the powers of nectar and ambrosia far exceeded those of any earthly fare; consuming nectar and ambrosia gave the gods their immortality. In Greek, the literal meanings of ambrosia and nectar are "immortality" and "overcoming death," respectively. Nektar is believed to be a compound of Greek nek- (probably akin to Latin nec-, meaning "death") and -tar (probably akin to Sanksrit tarati, meaning "he overcomes or crosses over").
Examples of nectar in a Sentence
Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 July 2025
Flowering non-stop summer-through fall in showy combinations of yellow, orange, and red, blanket flower provides a good source of nectar to native bees and butterflies, while the small seeds are eaten by finches.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 4 July 2025
Their diet typically consists of nectar from flowers and small insects, such as aphids and spiders, per Hummingbird Central.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Bees get nectar from flowers while acting as pollinators in a process called mutualism.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for nectar
Cite this Entry
“Nectar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nectar. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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nectar
noun
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