haoma

haoma — noun

1. a sacred liquid prepared from the juice of a particular vine, drunk during Zoroa

1.nounC2
Definition

a sacred liquid prepared from the juice of a particular vine, drunk during Zoroastrian religious ceremonies; also the vine itself, which grows in parts of Asia and whose juice was used as an offering in ancient Persian worship.

Example

During the Yasna ceremony, the priest prepared haoma by crushing the plant's stems with water.

prepared by crushing stems — shows how haoma was made

The ancient Persians offered haoma to their gods as a symbol of health and immortality.

offered + as a symbol of — shows ritual purpose

Common collocations
  • prepare haoma
  • offer haoma
  • sacred haoma
  • haoma plant
  • haoma ceremony
Synonyms
  • soma

    the equivalent ritual drink in Vedic Hinduism; haoma is the Zoroastrian version of the same ancient Indo-Iranian concept

Usage Note

This noun is uncountable — it has no plural form. Context determines whether haoma refers to the drink itself or the plant it comes from. In modern Zoroastrian practice, alternative plants are sometimes substituted because the original species is no longer certain.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Haoma, soma, ambrosia, and nectar all refer to divine or sacred drinks, but they come from different traditions. Haoma specifically belongs to Zoroastrianism — it is both a plant and the juice pressed from it, used in rituals described in the Avesta. Soma is the Vedic Hindu equivalent, mentioned in the Rigveda, and is linguistically cognate with haoma, both deriving from a Proto-Indo-Iranian root. Ambrosia is the food or drink of the Greek gods, granting immortality to those who consume it, while nectar is the drink served by Hebe to the Olympian deities. Unlike haoma and soma, ambrosia and nectar have no known plant origin — they are purely mythological. For example, you would say 'the priest prepared haoma for the Yasna ceremony' but 'Zeus consumed ambrosia on Mount Olympus.'

haoma ↗soma ↗ambrosia ↗nectar ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • haoma plant
  • haoma drink
  • haoma ceremony

Phrases

  • juice of haoma
  • preparation of haoma
  • offering of haoma

Prepositions

  • of haoma

Etymology

AvestanEnglish

Haoma comes from Avestan, the ancient language of the Zoroastrian scriptures, where it referred to both the intoxicating plant and the drink made from it. The word is related to Vedic Sanskrit 'soma', which describes a similar ritual substance in ancient India, both descending from a common Indo-Iranian root meaning 'that which is pressed', referring to the juice-extraction process.