wormwood
Meaning
A woody shrub with a bitter aromatic taste, used in making vermouth and absinthe and in medicine.
Bitterness or grief, or a source of this.
Structure
Usage
The distiller used wormwood as the key botanical in crafting the absinthe.
The memory of his betrayal was pure wormwood to her.
Ancient herbalists prescribed wormwood for various digestive ailments.
Etymology
The word "wormwood" originates from Old English 'wermōd', which was influenced by the similarity of the plant's leaves to the shape of wormwood's leaves or its traditional use as a remedy for intestinal worms. The 'worm' component is not related to the modern invertebrate but derives from the Proto-Germanic 'wurmiz', meaning serpent or dragon, likely alluding to the plant's bitter, "biting" taste. The 'wood' element comes from Old English 'wudu', meaning plant or tree, a common suffix for plants in Germanic languages. Over time, the plant's intense bitterness led to its name becoming a metaphor for something causing profound grief or resentment, as famously referenced in the biblical phrase "wormwood and gall."
Analysis
worm: Old English, 'wyrm'. In this compound, it refers to a serpent or dragon, not the modern earthworm. wood: Old English, 'wudu'. Refers to a plant, tree, or the substance from a tree.