Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wormwood"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wormwood \Worm"wood\, n. [AS. werm?d, akin to OHG. wermuota,
wormuota, G. wermuth, wermut; of uncertain origin.]
1. (Bot.) A composite plant ({Artemisia Absinthium}), having
a bitter and slightly aromatic taste, formerly used as a
tonic and a vermifuge, and to protect woolen garments from
moths. It gives the peculiar flavor to the cordial called
absinthe. The volatile oil is a narcotic poison. The term
is often extended to other species of the same genus.
2. Anything very bitter or grievous; bitterness.
Lest there should be among you a root that beareth
gall and wormwood. --Deut. xxix.
18.
{Roman wormwood} (Bot.), an American weed ({Ambrosia
artemisi[ae]folia}); hogweed.
{Tree wormwood} (Bot.), a species of Artemisia (probably
{Artemisia variabilis}) with woody stems.
{Wormwood hare} (Zo["o]l.), a variety of the common hare
({Lepus timidus}); -- so named from its color.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
wormwood
n : any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia
or Seriphidium
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