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 A distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs.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

  • IPA(key): /ap.sɛ̃t/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Paris):(file)

Noun

absinthe f (plural absinthes)

  1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
  2. absinthe
    Synonym: fée verte

Descendants

Further reading

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