Ambrosia

Definitions: Ambrosia

Ambrosia

Noun

1. A mixture of nectar and pollen prepared by worker bees and fed to larvae.

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.

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.

"Ambrosia" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "to be immortal".

Date "ambrosia" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references)

Specialty Definitions: Ambrosia

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Ambrosia The food of the gods (Greek, a privative, brotos, mortal); so called because it made them not mortal, i.e. it made them immortal. Anything delicious to the taste or fragrant in perfume is so called from the notion that whatever is used by the celestials must be excellent. "A table where the heaped ambrosia lay." Homer, by Bryant: Odyssey, v. line 141. "Husband and wife must drink from the cup of conjugal life; but they must both taste the same ambrosia, or the same gall." R. C. Houghton: Women of the Orient , part iii. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Ambrosia

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

In ancient mythology, Ambrosia is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the gods. The word has generally been derived from Greek a- ("not") and mbrotos ("mortal"); hence the food or drink of the immortals. A. W. Verrall, however, denies that there is any clear example in which the word 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 attribute miraculous properties. W. H. Roscher thinks that both nectar and ambrosia were kinds of honey, in which case their power of conferring immortality would be due to the supposed healing and cleansing power of honey. See also Ichor.

Derivatively, the word Ambrosia (neuter plural) was given to certain festivals in honour of Dionysus, probably because of the predominance of feasting in connection with them.

"Ambrosia" is related to the Hindu amrita, a drink which conferred immortality on the gods.

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 artemisiofolia is the common American ragweed that brings so much misery to allergy sufferers with its anemophilous pollen. 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.

This article was originally based on content from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ambrosia."

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Synonyms: Ambrosia

Synonyms: beebread (n), bitterweed (n), nectar (n), ragweed (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Ambrosia

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Food	Comestibles, eatables, victuals, edibles, ingesta; grub, grubstake, prog, meat; bread, bread stuffs; cerealia; cereals; viands, cates, delicacy, dainty, creature comforts, contents of the larder, fleshpots; festal board; ambrosia; good cheer, good living.
Savoriness	Tidbit, titbit, dainty, delicacy, tasty morsel; appetizer, hors d'ouvres; ambrosia, nectar, bonne-bouche; game, turtle, venison; delicatessen.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Ambrosia

English words defined with "ambrosia": Ambrose, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Ambrosia psilostachya, Ambrosia trifida, Ambrosiac, Ambrosially ♦ bitterweed ♦ genus Ambrosia, great ragweed ♦ ragweed, Roman wormwood. (references)

Specialty definitions using "ambrosia": ambrosia beetle, ambrosia borer ♦ Gods. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Ambrosia" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

German (ambrosia), Italian (ambrosia, ragweed), Latin (ambrosia), Portuguese (ambrosia), Swedish (ambrosia).

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Modern Usage: Ambrosia

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Gabriel, this is a bar where they serve beer, which is the mortal equivalent of your ambrosia. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge)
Movie/TV Titles	Taste of Ambrosia (1990)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Ambrosia

Domain	Title
Books	Ambrosia (reference) Ambrosia and the Coral Sun (reference) Ambrosia in an Earthen Vessel: Three Centuries of Audience and Reader Response to the Works of Thomas Middleton (Ams Studies in the Renaissance, No) (reference) Bitter Ambrosia (reference) Dare to Dream Ambrosia (reference) (more book examples)

Music	Yuletide Ambrosia (reference) Ambrosia (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Ambrosia

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Photo Album: Ambrosia

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Scanning Electron Micrograph of Ambrosia psilostachya.Credit: CDC.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Ambrosia

"Ambrosia" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 83.33% of the time. "Ambrosia" is used about 12 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	83.33%	10	111,207
Noun (proper)	16.67%	2	245,945
Total	100.00%	12	N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Ambrosia

The following table summarizes the usage of "ambrosia" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.

Name	Usage/Gender	Usage per 100 million Persons	Rank in USA
Ambrosia	Last name	130	58,780
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Derived & Related Names: Ambrosia

"Ambrosia" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "to be immortal".

The following table summarizes names related to "Ambrosia."
Name	Gender	Language	Related Name
Ambrosia	Female	Ancient Greek	Ambrose
Ambrose	Male	English	N/A
Ambrosine	Female	English	Ambrose
Ambroise	Male	French	Ambrose
Ambrus	Male	Hungarian	Ambrose
Ambrogio	Male	Italian	Ambrose
Ambrosio	Male	Portuguese	Ambrose
Ambrosio	Male	Spanish	Ambrose
Emrys	Male	Welsh	Ambrose
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Expressions: Ambrosia

Expressions using "ambrosia": Ambrosia artemisiaefolia ♦ Ambrosia artemisiaege ♦ ambrosia artemisiifolia ♦ Ambrosia beetle ♦ ambrosia borer ♦ ambrosia psilostachya ♦ Ambrosia trifida ♦ genus Ambrosia. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Ambrosia

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
ambrosia	416	ambrosia fruit recipe salad	6
ambrosia salad	164	ambrosia cafe	6
ambrosia recipe	123	ambrosia house key west	6
alessandra ambrosia	35	ambrosia game	6
ambrosia salad recipe	32	ambrosia receipe	6
ambrosia software	31	ambrosia window fashions	5
ambrosia fruit salad	25	ambrosia boston	5
ambrosia bakery	17	ambrosia biggest part	5
ambrosia lyrics	14	ambrosia chocolate	5
ambrosia house	13	ambrosia lotion tanning	4
ambrosia beetle	11	ambrosia parsley	4
ambrosia dessert	11	ambrosia window	4
ambrosia restaurant	8	ambrosia huntington	4
ambrosia audio	8	ambrosia inn	4
ambrosia key west	8	ambrosia cigar	4
ambrosia band	7	aerochopper ambrosia	4
ambrosia cake	7	ambrosia dinnerware	4
ambrosia music	6	ambrosia gallery tattoo	4
allesandra ambrosia	6	ambrosia wine	4
fruit ambrosia	6	ambrosia boston restaurant	4
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Ambrosia

Language		Translations for "ambrosia"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaan		ambrosyn, ambroos. (various references)

Arabic		‏طعام الآلهة, ‏شىء طيب المذاق, ‏شىء طيب الرائحة إلى حد بعيد. (various references)

Bulgarian		храна на боговете, амброзия. (various references)

Czech		ambrózie. (various references)

Danish		stribet vedborer (spruce ambrosia beetle, striped ambrosia beetle). (various references)

Dutch		ambrozýn, godenspýs. (various references)

Esperanto		ambrozio. (various references)

Farsi		ماءده ء بهشتی , عطر (Odor, Perfume, Scent, Smell), شهد (Honey, Molasses, Nectar, Ooze). (various references)

Finnish		tikaskuoriainen (ambrosia beetle, ambrosia borer, flagworm, keyhole borer, pinhole borer, shothole borer, spot worm), havutikaskuoriainen (spruce ambrosia beetle, striped ambrosia beetle). (various references)

French		ambroisie. (various references)

German		Götterspeise, Ambrosia. (various references)

Greek		αμβροσία. (various references)

Hebrew		מזון אלים, מ�'�" שמים, �"�'ן שמים (manna). (various references)

Hungarian		istenek eledele, ambrózia (ragweed). (various references)

Indonesian		makanan dewa. (various references)

Italian		ambrosia (common ragweed, hogweed, ragweed). (various references)

Manx		bee ny jeeghyn. (various references)

Pig Latin		ambrosiaay

Portuguese		ambrosia. (various references)

Romanian		ambrozie. (various references)

Russian		амброзия (ragweed). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		ambrozija, božanski napitak. (various references)

Spanish		ambrosía (ragweed). (various references)

Swedish		ambrosia. (various references)

Turkish		tanrı yemeği, tadı ve kokusu güzel şey, ölümsüzlük yemeği, çok lezzetli yemek. (various references)

Ukranian		їжа богів, амброзія (ragweed), перга. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Ambrosia

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	ambrosios. (various references)
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	ambrosia, Trypodendron lineatum, Trypodendron lineatus, Xyleborus, Xyloterus lineatum, Xyloterus lineatus. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Ambrosia

Derivations
	Words beginning with "ambrosia": ambrosial, ambrosially, ambrosias. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Ambrosia" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: abrosia, Abroziak, amberols, Ambracia, ambresia, ambrogia, ambrogio, Ambroise, ambrosea, ambrosian, Ambrosiana, ambrozia, Ambroziak, Ambrozzi, amerasian, Androsia, Cambrizzia, Marostica. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Ambrosia

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-i-m-o-r-s"
	-1 letter: abomasi, abrosia, ambaris.
	-2 letters: abomas, ambari, aromas, isobar, mbiras, sambar.
	-3 letters: aboma, abris, ambos, amias, amirs, arias, aroma, barms, bimas, boars, boras, brims, brios, iambs, maars, mairs, maria, mbira, moira, moras, obias, omasa, raias, roams, sabir, sabra, samba, sambo, simar.
	-4 letters: abas, abos, abri, aims, airs, amas, ambo, amia, amir, amis, arbs, aria, arms.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-b-i-m-o-r-s"
	+1 letter: ambrosial, ambrosias.
	+3 letters: abominators, ambrosially.
	+4 letters: adumbrations, ambulatories, amobarbitals, biomaterials, dermabrasion, embarkations, fibrosarcoma, masturbation, semiarboreal.
	+5 letters: abnormalities, ambassadorial, dermabrasions, fibrosarcomas, malabsorption, masturbations, microbalances, microhabitats, rhabdomancies.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.