different between wormwood vs tarragon

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French targon (cf. modern estragon), from Medieval Latin tragonia, from Arabic ????????? (?ar??n), ultimately from Ancient Greek ?????????? (drakóntion, “dragonwort, Dracunculus vulgaris”), from ?????? (drák?n, “dragon, serpent”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /?tæ????n/, /?tæ????n/
• (General American, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?t?????n/, /?t?????n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?tæ????n/
• Hyphenation: tar?ra?gon

Noun

tarragon (usually uncountable, plural tarragons)

1. A perennial herb, the wormwood species Artemisia dracunculus, from Europe and parts of Asia.
2. The leaves of this plant (either fresh, or preserved in vinegar / oil mixture) used as a seasoning.

Synonyms

• estragon, dragon's wort, French tarragon, Russian tarragon, silky wormwood, wild tarragon

Translations

References

• tarragon at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• arrogant