different between wormwood vs absinthe

English

Etymology

From Middle English wormwode, a folk etymology (as if worm +? wood) of wermode (“wormwood”), from Old English werm?d, worm?d (“wormwood, absinthe”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjam?d? (“wormwood”). Cognate with Middle Low German wermode, wermede (“wormwood”), German Wermut (“wormwood”). Doublet of vermouth.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?(?)m.w?d/
• (US)

Noun

wormwood (countable and uncountable, plural wormwoods)

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. Something that causes bitterness or affliction; a cause of mortification or vexation.
   • 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt 2008, p. 57:

     The irony of this reply was wormwood to Zeluco; he fell into a gloomy fit of musing, and made no farther inquiry […] .

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• Artemisia absinthium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Artemisia absinthium on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Artemisia absinthium on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• woodworm

English

Alternative forms

• absinth

Etymology

French absinthe, from Latin absinthium, from Ancient Greek ???????? (apsínthion, “wormwood”). Doublet of absinthium.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?æb.s?n?/, /?æb.sæn?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?æb.s?n?/, /?æb.sæ??/

Noun

absinthe (countable and uncountable, plural absinthes)

1. The herb absinthium Artemisia absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood. [from 1350–1470]
2. (figuratively) Bitterness; sorrow. [from 1350–1470]
3. A distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs. [from mid 19^th c.]

   Synonym: (colloquial) green fairy
4. (color) A moderate yellow green. [from late 19^th c.]

   Synonym: absinthe green

5. (US) Sagebrush.

Usage notes

• (wormwood): Absinth is the preferred spelling of this sense only.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• absinthe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• enhabits

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin absinthium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ap.s??t/

Noun

absinthe f (plural absinthes)

1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
2. absinthe

   Synonym: fée verte

Descendants

• ? Catalan: absenta
• ? English: absinthe
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: absint
• ? Portuguese: absinto

Further reading

• “absinthe” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
• absinthe on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr