absinthe

See also: absînthe, Absinthe, and absinthé

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    Both from Middle French absinthe, from Latin absinthium, from Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον (apsínthion, “wormwood”). Doublet of absinthium.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈæb.sɪnθ/, /ˈæb.sænθ/, /ˈæb.sæ̃θ/[1]
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)

    Noun

    absinthe (countable and uncountable, plural absinthes)

    1. The herb absinthium Artemisia absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood. [from 1350–1470][2]
    2. (figurative) Bitterness; sorrow.[2] [from 1350–1470][2]
    4. A distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs. [from mid 19th c.][2]
      Synonym: (colloquial) green fairy
      • 1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Plot That Failed”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 63:
        Let us go out and drink to the very good health of Monsieur Tarzan in some of old Plancon’s unparalleled absinth; not forgetting that the Count de Coude is one of the best swordsmen in Paris, and by far the best shot in all France.
      • 2010, Paul Owens, Paul Nathan, The Little Green Book of Absinthe‎[1], Penguin, →ISBN:
        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.
    5. A moderate yellow green. [from late 19th c.][2]
      absinthe green:  
      Synonym: absinthe green
    6. (US) Sagebrush.

    Usage notes

    • (wormwood): Absinth is the preferred spelling of this sense only.[2]

    Derived terms

    Translations

    References

    1. ^ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/absinthe
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “absinthe”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 9.

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    French

    Etymology

      Borrowed from Latin absinthium.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      absinthe f (plural absinthes)

      1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
      2. absinthe
        Synonym: fée verte
        • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […]‎[2], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères:
          Des garçons en tablier versaient du sable sur les dalles, entre des arbustes verts. On sentait l'absinthe, le cigare et les huîtres.
          (please add an English translation of this quotation)

      Descendants

      Further reading

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