n. [ Fr. Gr. &unr_; removing all sorrow; hence, an epithet of an Egyptian drug which lulled sorrow for the day; &unr_; not + &unr_; sorrow, grief. ] A drug used by the ancients to give relief from pain and sorrow; -- by some supposed to have been opium or hasheesh. Hence, anything soothing and comforting. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lulled with the sweet nepenthe of a court. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Quaff, O quaff this kind nepenthe. Poe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;. See Nepenthe. ] 1. Same as Nepenthe. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A genus of climbing plants found in tropical areas of India, Malaya, Australia, etc., which have the leaves prolonged into a kind of stout tendril terminating in a pitcherlike appendage, whence the plants are often called pitcher plants and monkey-cups. There are about thirty species, of which the best known is Nepenthes distillatoria. See Pitcher plant. [ 1913 Webster ]