English
wormwood
see also: Wormwood
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈwə(ɹ)m.wʊd/
  • (America)
Noun

wormwood

  1. An intensely bitter herb (Artemisia absinthium and similar plants in genus Artemisia) used in medicine, in the production of absinthe and vermouth, and as a tonic.
    • ca. 1591–95, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene iii (the nurse's monologue).
      But as I said, / When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple / Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, / To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!
    • 1611, King James Version, Jeremiah 9:15:
      Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
    • ca. 1864, John Clare, "We passed by green closes":
      Blue skippers in sunny hours ope and shut
      Where wormwood and grunsel flowers by the cart ruts […]
    • 1897, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Children of the Night, "Cliff Klingenhagen":
      Cliff took two glasses and filled one with wine
      And one with wormwood.
    Synonyms: grande wormwood, absinthe, mugwort, artemisia
  2. Anything that causes bitterness or affliction.
Translations Translations
Wormwood
Proper noun
  1. (Christianity) A star or angel that appears in the Book of Revelation, turning waters bitter and poisonous.
  2. Surname


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