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wormwood

wormwood

5 8.9
A bitter plant with a strong smell used to make medicine and flavor drinks
  • noun
  • /ˈwɜrmˌwʊd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ajenjo
  • She brought us onions, garlic on wheat bread, bitter gentian, and wormwood.
  • bitter as wormwood

This is why if you ever taste the anti parasitic herbs, black walnut and Wormwood, Wormwood tastes terrible.

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Examples

  • Bushes sprouted green leaves along the jagged drainages, the pungent scents of willow and wormwood wafting on the breeze.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The deepening slant of sunlight cast long black shadows across the tundra, glinting silver from the new leaves on the sedges and wormwood.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • "I'll tell you everything," I said, and every word was like wormwood in my mouth.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • But her end is bitter as wormwood...

  • This is 200-year-old wormwood absinthe.

  • And what would you expect if you gulped down wormwood and couch-grass on an empty stomach?

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Around her thin waist was a wormwood belt, supporting the thief-skin bag that held her charms.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Cold dust and a smell of wormwood penetrated from the fields through the cracks in the wagons.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • "Tilly, what made you put wormwood and catnip in the turkey stuffing?" demanded Ma.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The herbalist recommended using wormwood to alleviate digestive issues.

Synonyms

Artemisia absinthium
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A bitter herb with a strong smell used to make absinthe and for traditional medicine

is the general name for several aromatic bitter Artemisia species
common wormwood
vswormwood
9.2

A plant with a strong smell and bitter leaves used to make the drink absinthe

is the broader label covering many related aromatic bitter species
Artemisia annua
vswormwood
  • Specialized
7.4

A plant used to make a medicine for malaria

covers many species rather than naming this single medicinal one
sweet wormwood
vswormwood
8.4

A plant with scented leaves used to make medicine

is the wider category that includes various medicinal species
Artemisia pontica
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant from southeastern Europe with silvery leaves used to flavor absinthe

is the overall term for several species beyond this minor source
Roman wormwood
vswormwood
  • UK
9.9

A European plant with bitter leaves used to flavor spirits like absinthe

is the collective name for many aromatic Artemisia plants
Artemisia campestris
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant like common wormwood with small aromatic, slightly bitter leaves used in some herbal remedies

is the umbrella term for such similar aromatic bitter species
field wormwood
vswormwood
  • UK
9.9

A small wild plant with silvery leaves that grows in dry fields

is the general category that groups this field species with others
Artemisia maritima
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A coastal plant with silvery leaves and a strong smell used in medicine and as a flavor

is the common term covering both coastal and inland species
sea wormwood
vswormwood
  • UK
9.9

A plant that grows near the sea with silvery leaves and small yellow flowers

is the general name for related aromatic bitter plants across regions
Artemisia abrotanum
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bush with feathery leaves and a strong scent used in gardens and old recipes

is the broader name that includes shrubby and herbaceous species alike
southernwood
vswormwood
  • UK
9.9

A small bush with a strong scent used in gardens and to flavor beer

is the inclusive term for various aromatic Artemisia plants used similarly
Artemisia frigida
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A small aromatic plant with silvery green leaves and small brownish flowers that grows in dry northern areas

is the general label grouping this and other regionally varied species
wormwood sage
vswormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with soft leaves and a strong smell that lives for many years and has small brownish flowers

is the collective term for several aromatic, chiefly bitter Artemisia species
beach wormwood
vswormwood
  • Specialized
8.0

A plant with greyish leaves that grows on sandy coasts of eastern North America and is grown in gardens

is the wider botanical category that includes ornamental coastal species
silvery wormwood
vswormwood
  • US
9.9

A bush with silver leaves that grows in dry areas and is often a weed

is the general term for aromatic bitter plants despite varying uses and status

Compounds

beach wormwood
  • Specialized
8.0

A plant with greyish leaves that grows on sandy coasts of eastern North America and is grown in gardens

A plant with a strong smell and bitter leaves used to make the drink absinthe

A small wild plant with silvery leaves that grows in dry fields

9.9

A very bitter experience that feels painful and upsetting

Roman wormwood
  • Specialized
9.9

A small plant from northeastern North America with clusters of pink flowers tipped yellow

A European plant with bitter leaves used to flavor spirits like absinthe

9.9

A plant that grows near the sea with silvery leaves and small yellow flowers

9.9

A bitter feeling of regret after disappointment

A plant with scented leaves used to make medicine

A bush with silver leaves that grows in dry areas and is often a weed

wormwood memory
  • Literature
9.9

A bitter, painful thought about the past

wormwood oil
  • Specialized
9.5

A dark oil from wormwood leaves that gives absinthe its bitter taste

wormwood sage
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with soft leaves and a strong smell that lives for many years and has small brownish flowers

Surface Forms

wormwood singular
wormwoods plural

Morphology

wormwood = worm + wood (opaque) = worm + wood

Although the form is clearly 'worm' + 'wood', the modern meaning 'a bitter aromatic plant' is not derivable by standard composition and would likely mislead learners (e.g., to think of wood infested by worms).

Etymology

Wormwood gets its name from the plant's old use against stomach worms: it is literally made of worm and wood, showing people used it to 'drive out' parasites. That's why wormwood is known today as a bitter herb used in medicine and to flavor drinks like absinthe.