wormwood

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

wormwood¹

  • /ˈwɜːm.wʊd/ Australia, UK
  • /ˈwəːm.wɵd/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈwɚm.wʊd/ US
  • /ˈwøːm.wʊd/ New Zealand, Wales
  • /ˈwʌɾm.wʉd/ Scotland
  • /ˈwəɾm.wʉd/ Northern Ireland
  • /ˈweːm.wʊd/
  • /ˈwɛːm.wʊd/

Where it 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.

noun wormwoods

  1. countable, uncountable 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. 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!

    Similar: common wormwood, grande wormwood, absinthe, mugwort, artemisia

  2. countable, figuratively, uncountable Something that causes bitterness or affliction; a cause of mortification or vexation. The irony of this reply was wormwood to Zeluco; he fell into a gloomy fit of musing, and made no farther inquiry […].

Wormwood²

proper noun Wormwoods

  1. countable, uncountable A star or angel that appears in the Book of Revelation, turning waters bitter and poisonous. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the wa
  2. countable, uncountable A surname. Having got the address from the school records, Miss Honey set out to walk from her own home to the Wormwoods’ house shortly after nine.

Translations

Every language

noun Artemisia absinthium

Españolajenjo, absintio, alosna
한국어향쑥 hyangssuk
日本語苦蓬 nigayomogi
中文苦艾 kǔ'ài, 中亞苦蒿 /中亚苦蒿 Zhōngyǎ kǔhāo
Portuguêsabsinto
Françaisarmoise, absinthe
DeutschWermut
Italianoassenzio
Ελληνικάαψιθιά apsithiá, αρτεμισία artemisía
Românăpelin
Русскийполы́нь polýnʹ, чернобы́ль černobýlʹ
Tiếng Việtngải cứu
العربيةحَبَق اَلرَّاعِيّ ḥabaq ar-rāʕiyy
עבריתארטימיסיה artimisía, לַעֲנָה la'ana

noun figurative: that which causes bitterness

Españolamargor, amargura, mortificación
Portuguêsamargura
Françaisfiel, amertume
DeutschWermutstropfen
Ελληνικάχολή cholí
Русскийго́речь górečʹ, жёлчь žolčʹ, желчь želčʹ, раздражи́тельность razdražítelʹnostʹ
עבריתלַעֲנָה la'aná

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"wormwood." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wormwood. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wormwood. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wormwood

Chicago

"wormwood." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wormwood.

BibTeX
@misc{wormwood_2026,
  title = {wormwood},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wormwood},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}