Meanings
nounnectar (countable and uncountable, plural nectars)
plural nectars
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe drink of the gods.First known use 16th c.
They pourd in soveraine balme and Nectar good, / Good both for erthly med'cine and for hevenly food.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - broadlycountableuncountableAny delicious drink, now especially a type of sweetened fruit juice.First known use 16th c.
- countableuncountablebiologyThe sweet liquid secreted by flowers to attract pollinating insects and birds.First known use 17th c.
verbnectar (third-person singular simple present nectars, present participle nectaring, simple past and past participle nectared)
present singular third person nectars · participle present nectaring · participle past nectared · past nectared
- intransitiveTo feed on nectar.
Nectaring is one of butterflies' favourite activities.
1 more example
On the lane below, more orangetips nectared on spring beauties and violets.
2010, Robert Michael Pyle, Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year, page 123
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(classical mythology) the food and drink of the gods; mortals who ate it became immortal
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*neḱ-“perish, disappear”
- Ancient Greekνέκταρ“nourishment of the gods”
- Latinnectar
- Englishnectar
From Latin nectar, from Ancient Greek νέκταρ (néktar, “nourishment of the gods”), from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“perish, disappear”) + *-tr̥h₂ (“overcoming”), from *terh₂- (“to overcome, pass through, cross over”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νέκταρ
- νέκταρ (néktar)drink of the gods
Arabic رَحِيق
- رَحِيق (raḥīq)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Bulgarian некта́р, некта́р
- некта́р (nektár)drink of the gods
- некта́р (nektár)any delicious drink
- некта́р (nektár)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Catalan nèctar, nèctar
- nèctardrink of the gods
- nèctarany delicious drink
- nèctarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Chinese Cantonese 花蜜
- 花蜜 (faa¹ mat⁶)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Chinese Mandarin 瓊漿 /琼浆, 神酒
- 瓊漿 /琼浆 (qióngjiāng)drink of the gods
- 神酒 (shénjiǔ)drink of the gods
- 美酒 (měijiǔ)any delicious drink
- 花蜜 (huāmì)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Czech nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Danish nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarany delicious drink
- saftevandany delicious drink
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Dutch nectar, nektar
- nectardrink of the gods
- nektardrink of the gods
- nectarany delicious drink
- nektarany delicious drink
- nectarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Esperanto nektaro
- nektarosweet liquid secreted by flowers
Estonian nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarany delicious drink
- nesteany delicious drink
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
- õienektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
- nestesweet liquid secreted by flowers
- mesinestesweet liquid secreted by flowers
- õiemahlsweet liquid secreted by flowers
- mesimahlsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Finnish nektari, nektari
- nektaridrink of the gods
- nektariany delicious drink
- linnunmaitoany delicious drink
- mehuany delicious drink
- mesisweet liquid secreted by flowers
French nectar, nectar
- nectardrink of the gods
- nectarany delicious drink
- nectarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
German Nektar, Nektar
- Nektardrink of the gods
- Nektarany delicious drink
- Nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Greek νέκταρ, νέκταρ
- νέκταρ (néktar)drink of the gods
- νέκταρ (néktar)any delicious drink
- νέκταρ (néktar)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Hebrew צוּף
- צוּף (tsuf)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Hindi सुधा, अमृत
- सुधा (sudhā)drink of the gods
- अमृत (amŕt)drink of the gods
- अमृत (amŕt)any delicious drink
- अमृत (amŕt)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- मधुरस (madhuras)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- मकरंद (makrand)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- पुष्प-रस (puṣp-ras)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- अमरितस्राव (amritasrāv)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Hungarian istenek itala, nektár
- istenek italadrink of the gods
- nektárdrink of the gods
- nektárany delicious drink
- virágmézsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Icelandic blómasafi
- blómasafisweet liquid secreted by flowers
Irish neachtar, neachtar
- neachtardrink of the gods
- neachtarany delicious drink
- neachtarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Italian nettare, nettare
- nettaredrink of the gods
- nettareany delicious drink
- nettaresweet liquid secreted by flowers
Japanese 神酒, 神酒
- 神酒 (miki)drink of the gods
- 神酒 (shinshu)drink of the gods
- 美酒 (bishu)any delicious drink
- 花蜜 (kamitsu)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- 蜜 (mitsu)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Korean 신주, 넥타
- 신주 (sinju)drink of the gods
- 넥타 (nekta)any delicious drink
- 미주 (miju)any delicious drink
- 꽃꿀 (kkotkkul)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- 화밀 (hwamil)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- 꿀 (kkul)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Latin nectar
- nectardrink of the gods
Latvian nektārs
- nektārssweet liquid secreted by flowers
Lithuanian nektaras
- nektarassweet liquid secreted by flowers
Māori waihonga, ngongo
- waihongasweet liquid secreted by flowers
- ngongosweet liquid secreted by flowers
Norwegian Bokmål nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Polish nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarany delicious drink
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Portuguese néctar, néctar dos deuses
- néctardrink of the gods
- néctar dos deusesdrink of the gods
- néctar dos deusesany delicious drink
- néctarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Romanian nectar, nectar
- nectardrink of the gods
- nectarany delicious drink
- nectarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Russian некта́р, некта́р
- некта́р (nektár)drink of the gods
- некта́р (nektár)any delicious drink
- некта́р (nektár)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Slovak nektár
- nektársweet liquid secreted by flowers
Spanish néctar, néctar
- néctardrink of the gods
- néctarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Swahili mbochi, nekta
- mbochisweet liquid secreted by flowers
- nektasweet liquid secreted by flowers
Swedish nektar, nektar
- nektardrink of the gods
- nektarany delicious drink
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Thai น้ำทิพย์, น้ำต้อย
- น้ำทิพย์drink of the gods
- น้ำต้อยsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Turkish nektar, bal özü
- nektardrink of the gods
- bal özüsweet liquid secreted by flowers
- nektarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Ukrainian некта́р, некта́р
- некта́р (nektár)drink of the gods
- некта́р (nektár)any delicious drink
- некта́р (nektár)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Urdu آبِ حَیات, اَمْرِت
- آبِ حَیات (āb-i hayāt)drink of the gods
- اَمْرِت (amrit)drink of the gods
- مَکَرَنْد (makarand)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- مَکْرَنْد (makrand)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- شِیرَۂ پُھول (śīra-yi phūl)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
- رَسِ پُھول (ras-i phūl)sweet liquid secreted by flowers
Vietnamese mật hoa, mật
- mật hoasweet liquid secreted by flowers
- mậtsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Welsh neithdar, neithdar
- neithdardrink of the gods
- neithdarsweet liquid secreted by flowers
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nectar
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All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
nectar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nectar
MLA
“nectar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nectar. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nectar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nectar.
Source: nectar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.