a green, aromatic liqueur that is 68 percent alcohol, is made with wormwood and other herbs, and has a bitter, licorice flavor: now banned in most Western countries.
alcoholic liqueur distilled from wine mixed with wormwood, 1842, from Fr., "essence of wormwood," from Mod.L. (Linnaeus) name for the plant (Artemisia Absinthium), from L. absinthum, from Gk. apsinthion, perhaps from Persian (cf. Pers. aspand, of the same meaning). The plant so called in Eng. from 1612.
Main Entry: ab·sinthe Variant: alsoab·sinth/'ab-(")sin(t)th/ Function: noun 1:WORMWOOD 2: a green liqueur flavored with wormwood or a substitute, anise, and other aromatics
[ab-sinth] 
