ambrosia

Ambrosia literally means "immortality" in Greek; it is derived from the Greek word ambrotos ("immortal"), which combines the prefix a- (meaning "not") with mbrotos ("mortal"). In Greek and Roman mythology, only the immortals-gods and goddesses-could eat ambrosia. Those mythological gods and goddesses also drank nectar, the original sense of which refers to the "drink of the gods." Nectar (in Greek, nektar) may have implied immortality as well; nektar is believed to have carried the literal meaning "overcoming death." While the ambrosia of the gods implied immortality, we mere mortals use ambrosia in reference to things that just taste or smell especially delicious. Similarly, nectar can now simply mean "something delicious to drink."