Everyday LifeGreek → English
Absinthe
/ˈæbsɪnθ/noun
A strong green spirit flavoured with wormwood, anise and fennel.
The Greek roots
ἀψίνθιον
apsínthion
wormwood
Literally: “wormwood”
Follow a root:ἀψίνθιον1 word
The story of the word
ἀψίνθιον is the Greek name for wormwood, and it is probably not a Greek word at all but a loan from an older language of the region, which is common for plant names. Greek scripture uses it for bitterness itself, and the star called Wormwood in Revelation is ἄψινθος. The drink is a nineteenth-century French business, banned across much of Europe by 1915 on evidence that has not survived scrutiny.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
In a sentence
He poured water over the sugar and watched the absinthe cloud from green to milk.