Relating to or containing absinthe, or having the bitter, sharp qualities characteristic of wormwood and absinthe.
From French absinthe plus the adjective suffix -ine, following Latin patterns of botanical description. This formation allowed chemists and botanists to describe substances as 'of or like absinthe' in scientific texts.
The word absinthine appears in Victorian toxicology reports describing the supposed 'green fairy' drink as dangerously habit-forming, yet the real culprit was likely the high alcohol content, not the plant itself.
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