AMBROSIA, in ancient mythology, sometimes the food, |
AMBROSIA, in ancient mythology, sometimes the food, |
derived from Greek a, not, and mbrotos, mortal; hence the |
derived from Greek a-, "not", and mbrotos, mortal; hence the |
ambrosios necessarily means ``immortal,'' and prefers to explain it as ``fragrant,'' a sense which is always suitable; cf. W. Leaf, Iliad (2nd ed.), on the phrase ambrosios upuos (ii. 18). If so, the word may be derived from the Semitic ambar (ambergris) to which Eastern nations |
ambrosios necessarily means ``immortal,'' and prefers to explain it as "fragrant," a sense which is always suitable. If so, the word may be derived from the Semitic ambar ("ambergris") to which Eastern nations |
Derivatively the word Ambrosia (neut. plur.) was given to |
Derivatively the word Ambrosia (neuter plural) was given to |
There is also an American beetle, the Ambrosia beetle, |
There is also an American beetle, the Ambrosia beetle, |
Derivatively the word Ambrosia (neuter plural) was given to certain festivals in honour of Dionysus?, probably because of the predominance of feasting in connexion with them.
The name Ambrosia was also applied by Dioscorides? and Pliny? to certain herbs, and has been retained in modern botany for a genus of plants from which it has been extended to the group of dicotyledons called Ambrosiaceae?, including Ambrosia, Xanthium and Iva, all annual herbaceous plants represented in America. Ambrosia maritima and some other species occur also in the Mediterranean region.
There is also an American beetle, the Ambrosia beetle, belonging to the family of Scolytidae, which derives its name from its curious cultivation of a succulent fungus, called ambrosia. Ambrosia beetles bore deep though minute galleries into trees and timber, and the wood-dust provides a bed for the growth of the fungus, on which the insects and larvae feed.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia