ambrosia - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

am·bro·sia

Audio Help [am-broh-zhuh] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Classical Mythology. the food of the gods. Compare nectar (def. 3).

2.	something especially delicious to taste or smell.

3.	a fruit dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut and sometimes pineapple.

[Origin: 1545–55; < L < Gk: immortality, food of the gods, n. use of fem. of ambrósios, equiv. to a- a-⁶ + -mbros- (comb. form of brotōs mortal; akin to L mortuus dead, murder) + -ios adj. suffix; r. ME ambrose, ambrosie < OF ambroise < L

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
ambrosia

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

am·bro·sia Audio Help (ām-brō'zhə, -zhē-ə) Pronunciation Key
n.

Greek & Roman Mythology The food of the gods, thought to confer immortality.
Something with an especially delicious flavor or fragrance.
A dessert containing primarily oranges and flaked coconut.

[Latin, from Greek ambrosiā, from ambrotos, immortal, immortalizing; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ambrosia

1555, "favored food or drink of the gods," from L. ambrosia, from Gk. ambrosios, lit. "of the immortals," from a- "not" + mbrotos, related to mortos "mortal." Applied to certain herbs by Pliny and Dioscorides; used of various foods for mortals since 1685 (originally of fruit drinks).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ambrosia
noun
1.	a mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees and fed to larvae [syn: beebread]
2.	any of numerous chiefly North American weedy plants constituting the genus Ambrosia that produce highly allergenic pollen responsible for much hay fever and asthma [syn: ragweed]
3.	fruit dessert made of oranges and bananas with shredded coconut
4.	(classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
ambrosia [(am-broh-zhuh)]

The food of the gods in classical mythology. Those who ate it became immortal.

Note: Particularly delicious food is sometimes called “ambrosia.”

[Chapter:] Mythology and Folklore

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ambrosia

Am"brose\, n. A sweet-scented herb; ambrosia. See Ambrosia, 3. --Turner.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ambrosia

Am*bro"sia\ (?; 277), n. [L. ambrosia, Gr. ?, properly fem. of ?, fr. ? immortal, divine; 'a priv. + ? mortal (because it was supposed to confer immortality on those who partook of it). ? stands for ?, akin to Skr. mrita, L. mortuus, dead, and to E. mortal.]

1. (Myth.) (a) The fabled food of the gods (as nectar was their drink), which conferred immortality upon those who partook of it. (b) An unguent of the gods.

His dewy locks distilled ambrosia. --Milton.

2. A perfumed unguent, salve, or draught; something very pleasing to the taste or smell. --Spenser.

3. Formerly, a kind of fragrant plant; now (Bot.), a genus of plants, including some coarse and worthless weeds, called ragweed, hogweed, etc.

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