Etymograph

English

ambrosia

Ambrosia comes from Latin ambrosia ‘food of the gods’, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́μβροτος ‘immortal, divine’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-1‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mr̥tós1‘dead’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥mr̥tós1‘immortal’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ə́mrətos1‘immortal, undying’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓́μβροτος1ắmbrotos‘immortal, divine’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓μβροσῐ́ᾱ1ămbrosĭ́ā
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambrosia1‘food of the gods’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1845ambrosia1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ambrosia
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1845, Caroline Lee Hentz, The Mysterious Reticule: “He had a most intense admiration of female loveliness,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-Wiktionary, English ambrosia‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mr̥tósWiktionary, English ambrosia‘dead’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥mr̥tósWiktionary, English ambrosia‘immortal’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ə́mrətosWiktionary, English ambrosia‘immortal, undying’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓́μβροτοςWiktionary, English ambrosiaắmbrotos‘immortal, divine’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓μβροσῐ́ᾱWiktionary, English ambrosiaămbrosĭ́ā
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambrosiaWiktionary, English ambrosia‘food of the gods’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1845ambrosiaWiktionary, English ambrosia. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1845, Caroline Lee Hentz, The Mysterious Reticule: “He had a most intense admiration of female loveliness,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

march, remember, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, maritime, mortality, marsh, mortal, mortar, mare, mara, moor, muller, morbid, mort, morn, marinate, moribund, marinara, maar, cormorant, 62 more

through Proto-Indo-European *n̥mr̥tós ‘immortal’

amrita, 3 more

Today it means

noun The food of the gods, thought to confer immortality.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ambrosia”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / ambrosia

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