HONORS SET 3

Words with Greek roots

ambrosial – adj.• Delicious, fragrant, divine

Ambrosia was the food of the gods. Today we describe wonderful food as ambrosial, but it can describe other things, such as an ambrosial spring breeze or ambrosial gardens.

halcyon• Adj.• Calm, peacefulIt was a halcyon day on the bay. The water was like a

mirror; it was so tranquil.• From Halcyone, a daughter of King Aeolus, who

drowned herself when she heard of her husband’s death and then was turned into a seabird (along with her husband). According to myth, this bird nested at sea and calmed the wind and waves during the nesting season.

Metamorphosis noun

• A transformation, a marked alteration

• The daughter of King Aeolus underwent a metamorphosis. She was transformed from a woman to a bird.

Labyrinthine adj.• Complicated, perplexing, mazelike• The labyrinthine gardens were so vast and

intricate, it took all day to explore their elaborate layout.

titanic adjHuge, powerfulThe titanic bulldozer easily scraped tons of rock-laden earth in order to clear the new roadway.

From Greek Titans, the giants who were believed to have ruled the Earth before the gods of Olympus.