An archaic or historical term for wormwood, a bitter plant used in medicine and as a flavoring in certain alcoholic drinks.
From Greek apsinthion, the plant name for wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The term passed through Latin and became used in English medical and botanical texts, particularly referring to the plant's bitter properties.
Wormwood was so notoriously bitter that ancient Greeks used the word apsinthion as a metaphor for anything unpleasant—bitterness literally traveled from plants into language!
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