1545–55; < Latin < Greek néktar
Related forms
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
| a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros |
| the daughters of Gaea who punish crimes at the instigation of the victims: Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone |
- Honeybees drink nectar and gather pollen at the flowers.
- One reason for pollinators to visit flowers is to extract energy in the form of sugary, caloric nectar.
- There's a whole lot of fresh honeysuckle and juicy apricot nectar for your money in this well-balanced wine.
| nectar (ˈnɛktə) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a sugary fluid produced in the nectaries of plants and collected by bees and other animals |
| 2. | classical myth Compare ambrosia the drink of the gods |
| 3. | any delicious drink, esp a sweet one |
| 4. | something very pleasant or welcome: your words are nectar to me |
| 5. | chiefly (US) |
| a. the undiluted juice of a fruit | |
| b. a mixture of fruit juices | |
| [C16: via Latin from Greek néktar, perhaps nek- death (related to nekros corpse) + -tar, related to Sanskrit tarati he overcomes; compare Latin nex death and trans across] | |
| nectareous | |
| —adj | |
| 'nectarous | |
| —adj | |
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
nectar
Cite This Source
nectar  (něk'tər) Pronunciation Key
A sweet liquid secreted by plants as food to attract animals that will benefit them. Many flowers produce nectar to attract pollinating insects, birds, and bats. Bees collect nectar to make into honey. Nectar is produced in structures called nectaries. Some plants have nectaries located elsewhere, outside the flower. These provide a food source for animals such as ants which in turn defend the plant from harmful insects. Nectar consists primarily of water and varying concentrations of many different sugars, including fructose, glucose, and sucrose. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
nectar
sweet, viscous secretion from the nectaries, or glands, in plant blossoms, stems, and leaves. It attracts fruit-eating bats, hummingbirds, and insects, who aid in effecting pollination by transferring from plant to plant the pollen that clings to their bodies. Nectar is the raw material used by the honeybee to produce honey. Mainly a watery solution of the sugars fructose, glucose, and sucrose, it also contains traces of proteins, salts, acids, and essential oils. Sugar content varies from 3 to 80 percent, depending upon such factors as flower species and soil and air conditions. Honeybees gather nectar mainly from the blossoms and rarely gather nectars having less than 15 percent sugar content.
Learn more about nectar with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Cite This Source
