Ambrosia

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  ambrosia \am*bro"sia\ ([a^]m*br[=o]"zh[.a]
     or[a^]m*br[=o]"zh[i^]*[.a]; 277), n. [L. ambrosia, Gr.
     'ambrosi`a, properly fem. of 'ambro`sios, fr. 'a`mbrotos
     immortal, divine; 'a priv. + broto`s mortal (because it was
     supposed to confer immortality on those who partook of it).
     broto`s stands for mroto`s, akin to Skr. m[.r]ita, 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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  His dewy locks distilled ambrosia. --Milton.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A perfumed unguent, salve, or draught; something very
        pleasing to the taste or smell. --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Formerly, a kind of fragrant plant; now (Bot.), a genus of
        plants, including some coarse and worthless weeds, called
        ragweed, hogweed, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Zool.) The food of certain small bark beetles, family
        {Scolytidae} believed to be fungi cultivated by the
        beetles in their burrows.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     5. A dessert made from shredded coconuts and oranges,
        sometimes including other ingredients such as marshmallow.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ambrosia
       n 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}, {bitterweed}]
       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 [syn: {nectar}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  89 Moby Thesaurus words for "ambrosia":
     Caesar salad, Jell-O salad, Waldorf salad, ambergris, aromatic,
     aromatic gum, aromatic water, artificial sweetener, aspic, attar,
     attar of roses, balm, balm of Gilead, balsam, bay oil,
     bergamot oil, blackstrap, bonne bouche, calcium cyclamate,
     cane syrup, cate, champaca oil, chef salad, choice morsel, civet,
     clover honey, cole slaw, comb honey, combination salad, corn syrup,
     crab Louis, cyclamates, dainty, delicacy, dessert, edulcoration,
     essence, essential oil, extract, fixative, fruit salad, goody,
     green salad, heliotrope, herring salad, honey, honeycomb, honeydew,
     honeypot, jasmine oil, kickshaw, lavender oil, macaroni salad,
     manna, maple syrup, molasses, morsel, musk, myrcia oil, myrrh,
     nectar, parfum, perfume, perfumery, potato salad, rose oil,
     saccharification, saccharin, salad, salade, salmagundi, savory,
     scent, slaw, sodium cyclamate, sorghum, sugar, sugar-making,
     sugaring off, sweetener, sweetening, sweets, syrup, tidbit, titbit,
     tossed salad, treacle, treat, volatile oil