absinthe

Etymology

* (wormwood; figuratively bitterness, sorrow): From Middle English absinthe. * (liquor): From Modern French absinthe. Both from Middle French absinthe, from Latin absinthium, from Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον (apsínthion, “wormwood”). Doublet of absinthium.

noun

1. The herb absinthium Artemisia absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood.
2. (figurative) Bitterness; sorrow.
3. A distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs.
   Absinthe ads like to trade on artists like Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, as if the history of the green fairy began in the Pigalle neighborhood of 1870s Paris, but wormwood-infused drinks have been around for thousands of years. 2010, Paul Owens, Paul Nathan, The Little Green Book of Absinthe, Penguin
4. (color) A moderate yellow green.
5. (US) Sagebrush.