Nectar Meaning
/ˈnɛk.tə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe drink of the gods.
nounAny delicious drink, now especially a type of sweetened fruit juice.
Sentence Examples
Bees feed on nectar.
The bee flew to the flower and drank the nectar.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hungry hummingbird drank sweet ____ from the flower's center every morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Bees collect ____ from flowers to produce the honey we buy at the store.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hungry hummingbird drank sweet ____ from the flower's center every morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Bees collect ____ from flowers to produce the honey we buy at the store.