wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

1

: artemisia

especially : a European plant (Artemisia absinthium) that has silvery silky-haired leaves and drooping yellow flower heads and yields a bitter dark green oil used in absinthe

2

: something bitter or grievous : bitterness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

This Vermut is a combination of two types of sherry that are fortified with a brandy made from red grapes of the region, and is finally aromatized with wormwood, nutmeg, cardamom, and vanilla bean. —Tom Hyland, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023

Malört, the Swedish word for wormwood, is the ingredient that gives the spirit its notoriously unsavory flavor. —Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 24 Mar. 2023

Tollius created this vermouth using a Niagara grape juice base and infusing it with botanicals like wormwood, angelica root, and gentian for a full 24 hours. —Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 15 Mar. 2023

It’s now known that wormwood, or at least some varieties of it, contains thujone, which can indeed cause seizures, and death, due to being a GABA antagonist. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2010

While wormwood has been researched5 for its possible antiparasitic effects in animals, a recent study6 looking at its efficacy in treating a type of flatworm infection in humans was later retracted. —Casey Gueren, SELF, 19 Aug. 2021

Absinthe is prepared by crushing and dissolving the herb wormwood in unflavoured neutral alcohol and then distilling the result; other herbs and spices are added later for taste and colour. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2010

The yeast eats sugar and, using the genetic code from the wormwood as a blueprint, spits out artemisinic acid, a precursor to the drug. —Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2013

But that was based on the assumption that all of the thujone in the wormwood ended up in the drink prepared from it. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2010

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English wormwode, folk-etymological alteration of warmode, wermod, going back to Old English wermōd, going back to West Germanic *wermōda- (whence Old Saxon wermōda, Old High German wermuota), perhaps going back to a derivative of a base *wermo- "bitter," dissimilated from dialectal Indo-European *(s)u̯eru̯o- (whence Welsh chwerw "bitter," Old Irish serb)

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

1

: a European plant that is related to the daisies and yields a bitter dark green oil

2

: something bitter or painful

it was wormwood for him to accept charity

Medical Definition

wormwood

noun

worm·​wood ˈwərm-ˌwu̇d 

: artemisia sense 2

especially : a European plant (Artemisia absinthium) yielding a bitter slightly aromatic dark green oil used in absinthe