nepenthes

noun

1. (uncountable)A drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief.

   “[A]ll ye (whom I ſee here preſente) doe fare as if ye were well whittled, and thoroughly moyſted with the Nectar wine of Homericall godds, not without a portion of that iuyce of that meruailous herbe Nepenthes, whiche hath force to put ſadneſſe and meloncholie from the herte: […]”

   “And in her other hand a cup ſhe hild, / The which was with Nepenthe to the brim vpfild. // Nepenthe is a drinck of ſouerayne grace, / Deuized by the Gods, for to aſſwage / 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.”

   “Read the Scripture […] T'is the beſt Nepenthes, ſureſt cordiall, ſweeteſt alteratiue, preſenteſt diuerter: […]”

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

   “Homer of Moly and Nepenthe singes: / Moly, the gods most soveraigne hearbe divine. / Nepenth Hellen's drink, which gladnes brings,— / Hart's greife repells, and doth yᵉ witts refine.”

2. (uncountable)A Southeast Asian carnivorous plant of the genus Nepenthes; a monkey cup or tropical pitcher plant.

   “And how marvellous were the shapes of the nepenthes, how beautiful the colour, how delicate in form!”

   “When studying the nepenthes, 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 the nepenthes, but not in all, which run up to the margin of the lip of the pitcher.”

   “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 and nepenthes.”

3. (archaic, form-of, plural)plural of nepenthe.