A liquid alcoholic derivative or component of absinthe or wormwood, representing a purified form of the plant's active compounds.
From absinth(ium) plus -ol, a chemical suffix indicating an alcohol or hydroxyl compound. Created by 19th-century chemists following systematic chemical nomenclature.
Chemical nomenclature like absinthol shows how Victorian scientists broke down plants into supposed 'active principles'—a useful approach that accidentally fueled exaggerated fears about drugs being composed of mysterious toxic essences.
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