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wormwood.

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.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwɜːm.wʊd/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwəːm.wɵd/British, Southern, Standard/ˈwɚm.wʊd/General-American/ˈwøːm.wʊd/New-Zealand, Wales
  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.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Something that causes bitterness or affliction; a cause of mortification or vexation.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.