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nectar

UK/ˈnɛk.tə/US/ˈnɛk.təɹ/
nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,604 of 15,258neutral

Nectar is the sweet liquid flowers offer to insects. Bees collect nectar, rich in nectar, nectar-rich planting.

It is a bribe: the plant spends sugar to get pollen carried, and the shape of the flower decides which insect can reach it. Honey is nectar with the water driven off. The Greek word named the drink of the gods.

Daiju Azuma · CC BY-SA 2.5

Definitions of nectar

  1. 1nounnectarThe sweet liquid flowers offer to insects.B2+

    “Bees fly from flower to flower collecting nectar.”

nectar is a liquid.

Where it comes from

Greek nektar named the drink of the gods, apparently from roots meaning death and overcoming.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *neḱ- — perish, disappear

  2. Ancient Greek

    νέκταρ — nourishment of the gods

  3. Latin

    nectar

  4. English, today

    nectar

Built from

  • *terh₂- · Proto-Indo-European — to overcome, pass through, cross over

From Latin nectar, from Ancient Greek νέκταρ (“nourishment of the gods”), from Proto-Indo-European neḱ- (“perish, disappear”) + -tr̥h₂ (“overcoming”), from terh₂- (“to overcome, pass through, cross over”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Trees & Flowers

Practise this word

nectar in the wild

  • Noted for long beaks, hummingbirds are specialized for feeding on flower nectar, but all species also consume small insects.

    Hummingbird

  • Some sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but they usually perch to feed.

    Sunbird

  • For example, hummingbirds and hawkmoths have long narrow beaks that can reach nectar at the bottom of long tubular flowers.

    Nectarivore

  • The majority of nectar feeders are insects or birds, but instances can also be found in other animal groups.

    Nectarivore

  • Agave syrup, also known as maguey syrup or agave nectar, is a sweetener commercially produced from several species of agave, including Agave tequilana (blue agave) and Agave salmiana.

    Agave syrup

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the nectar family

nectar

nectar — used about once every 3,655 pages · #8,604 · point at the bar for the others