[wurm-woo
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| 1. | any composite herb or low shrub of the genus Artemisia. |
| 2. | a bitter, aromatic plant, A. absinthium, of the Old World, used as a vermifuge and a tonic, and as an ingredient in absinthe. |
| 3. | something bitter, grievous, or extremely unpleasant. |
| worm·wood (wûrm'wŏŏd') n.
[Middle English wormwode, alteration (influenced by worm, worm, and wode, wood, perhaps from the use of its leaves as a vermifuge) of wermod, from Old English wermōd, from Germanic *wermōdaz.] |
Wormwood
Heb. la'anah, the Artemisia absinthium of botanists. It is noted for its intense bitterness (Deut. 29:18; Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9:15; Amos 5:7). It is a type of bitterness, affliction, remorse, punitive suffering. In Amos 6:12 this Hebrew word is rendered "hemlock" (R.V., "wormwood"). In the symbolical language of the Apocalypse (Rev. 8:10, 11) a star is represented as falling on the waters of the earth, causing the third part of the water to turn wormwood. The name by which the Greeks designated it, absinthion, means "undrinkable." The absinthe of France is distilled from a species of this plant. The "southernwood" or "old man," cultivated in cottage gardens on account of its fragrance, is another species of it.
wormwood
any bitter or aromatic herb or shrub of the genus Artemisia of the family Asteraceae, distributed throughout many parts of the world. These plants have many small, greenish yellow flower heads grouped in clusters. The leaves are usually divided and alternate along the stem; they may be green, grayish green, or silvery white.
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