A statue of the semi-legendaryGreek authorHomer from theVilla of the Papyri in the ancientRoman town ofHerculaneum, now in the collection of theNaples National Archaeological Museum inNaples,Italy. In Homer’sOdyssey (book IV, line 221),Helen of Troy places a nepenthes(sense 1) into some wine.

Nepenthes distillatoria, thetype species of nepenthes(sense 2). A nepenthes is also known as amonkey cup ortropicalpitcher plant.

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /nɪˈpɛnθiːz/

  • Audio(Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American)IPA^(key): /nəˈpɛnθiz/
• Hyphenation:ne‧pen‧thes

Borrowed fromLatinnēpenthes(“adrug bringingrelief fromgrief”), fromAncient Greekνηπενθές(nēpenthés),neuter ofνηπενθής(nēpenthḗs,“sorrow-banishing”), fromνη-(nē-,“not”) +πένθος(pénthos,“grief”) (fromπάσχειν(páskhein),presentactiveinfinitive ofπάσχω(páskhō,“to beill orinjured in a certain way; tosuffer”), fromProto-Indo-European*kʷendʰ-(“toendure, to suffer”)). CompareFrenchnépenthès(“aplant from which a drug supposedly bringing relief from grief may be obtained; such a drug”).

nepenthes (uncountable)

1. Adrug mentioned inHomer'sOdyssey (c. 8th centuryB.C.E.) as bringingrelief fromanxiety orgrief;hence, any drug orsubstance seen as bringingwelcomeforgetfulness orrelief.
   • 1549,Desiderius Erasmus, “Folie Speaketh”, inThomas Chaloner, transl.,The Praise of Folie. Moriæ Encomivm: A Booke Made in Latyne by that Great Clerke Erasmus Roterodame. Englisshed by Sir Thomas Chaloner Knight, [London: InFletestrete in the House ofThomas Berthelet],→OCLC:

     [A]ll ye (whom I ſee here preſente) doe fare as if ye were wellwhittled, and thoroughlymoyſted with the Nectar wine of Homericall godds, not without a portion of thatiuyce of thatmeruailous herbeNepenthes, whiche hath force to put ſadneſſe and meloncholie from the herte:[…]

   • 1596,Edmund Spenser,The Faerie Qveene. Disposed into Twelue Books, Fashioning XII. Morall Vertues, part II[books IV–VI], London: Printed [byRichard Field] forVVilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC, book IV, canto III, stanzas XLII and XLIII,page49:

     And in her other hand a cup ſhe hild, / The which was withNepenthe to the brim vpfild. //Nepenthe is a drinck ofſouerayne grace, /Deuized by the Gods, for toaſſwage / 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.

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym;Robert Burton], “Exercise Rectified of Body and Minde”, inThe Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 4, page262:

     Read the Scripture[…] T'is the beſtNepenthes, ſureſt cordiall, ſweeteſtalteratiue, preſenteſt diuerter:[…]

   • 1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym;Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, inThe American Review‎^[1], volume I, number II, New York, N.Y., London:Wiley & Putnam, […],→OCLC:

     "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee / Respite—respite andNepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore. Quaff, oh quaff this kindnepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"

   • 1876,John Davies, “[Tobacco.]”, inAlexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor,The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Edited, with Memorial-Introduction and Notes, by the Rev. Alexander B. Grosart. In Two Volumes (Early English Poets), volume II, London:Chatto and Windus,Piccadilly,→OCLC,page226:

     Homer ofMoly andNepenthe singes: / Moly, the gods most soveraigne hearbe divine. /Nepenth Hellen's drink, which gladnes brings,— / Hart's greife repells, and doth y^e witts refine.

   • 2013, Ogden W[illis] Rogers, “The Tipping Point (or, ‘There She Goes Again …’)”, inBeginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work, Harrisburg, Pa.: White Hat Communications,→ISBN,page229:

     Thenepenth of nostalgia is replaced by an amphetamine of anticipation.

2. ASoutheast Asiancarnivorousplant of thegenusNepenthes; amonkey cup ortropicalpitcher plant.
   • 1863,Spenser [Buckingham] St. John, “Introduction”, inLife in the Forests of the Far East; or Travels in Northern Borneo.[...] With Numerous Illustrations. In Two Volumes, 2nd rev. edition, volume I, London:Smith, Elder and Co.,page11:

     And how marvellous were the shapes of thenepenthes, how beautiful the colour, how delicate in form!

   • 1867, “NEPENTHA′CEÆ”, inCharles 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 York, N.Y.: Scribner, Welford, & Co., 654,Broadway,→OCLC,column 1080:

     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 ovary of Birthworts, their highly developed calyx, axile placentation, and hermaphrodite flowers, are serious difficulties in the way of a close contact between them andNepenths, unless the peculiar structure of the wood, the consideration of which I for the present abandon, should lead to the final establishment of the class of Homogens, in which caseNepenths and Birthworts will be brought into contact or at least a near neighbourhood.

   • 1875 July 29,Lawson Tait, “Insectivorous Plants”, inNature: A Weekly Illustrated Journal of Science, volume XII, number300, London, New York, N.Y.:Macmillan and Co.,page252, column 2:

     When studying thenepenthes, I was puzzled to see the use of the channel which exists on the back of the pitchers, and which is formed by two ridges furnished with spikes in most of thenepenthes, but not in all, which run up to the margin of the lip of the pitcher.

   • 2013, Anwar Shahzad, Taiba Saeed, “In Vitro Conservation Protocols for Some Rare Medicinal Plant Species”, in Mohd. Shahid, Anwar Shahzad, Abida Malik, Aastha Sahai, editors,Recent Trends in Biotechnology and Therapeutic Applications of Medicinal Plants, Dordrecht:Springer,→DOI,→ISBN,page265:

     Different techniques in plant tissue culture may offer certain advantages over traditional methods of propagation which include[…] Production of plants from seeds that have very low chances of germinating and growing, i.e.: orchids andnepenthes.

• (substance bringing forgetfulness or relief):nepenth(obsolete, rare),nepenthe(archaic)
• (plant):nepenth(obsolete, rare)

• (plant):monkey cup

• nepenthaceous(“belonging to theNepenthaceae family of plants”)
• nepenthean

• Nepenthaceae
• Nepenthes

• (substance bringing forgetfulness or relief):amnesic

Fromnepenthe +‎-s.

nepenthes

1. (archaic)plural ofnepenthe.

• nepenths(obsolete, rare)

• Nepenthes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia(genus of carnivorous plants)

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