From Greek 'apsinthion' (wormwood), possibly pre-Greek in origin — the drink blamed for madness and banned worldwide.
Definition
A potent green anise-flavored spirit derived from wormwood.
The Full Story
Greek1610swell-attested
From French 'absinthe,' from Latin 'absinthium' (wormwood, the plant Artemisia absinthium), from Greek 'apsínthion' (ἀψίνθιον, wormwood), a word of probable pre-Greek or Near Eastern substrate origin — it does not have a convincing Indo-European etymology. Some scholarshave connected it to Persian or suggested a Semitic source, but no consensus exists; the word may belong to the same stratum of pre-Greek botanical vocabulary as 'hyacinth' and 'terebinth.' Wormwood itself was known in the ancient world as a bitter medicinal herb, used as a vermifuge (worm
Did you know?
The 'Green Fairy' was the drink of Impressionist painters, Bohemianpoets, and Ernest Hemingway.
States between 1905 and 1915. Modern research has largely debunked these claims; the 'madness' was likely caused by adulterated alcohol and simple overconsumption. The drink was the favored intoxicant of Impressionist painters and Symbolist poets — its epithet 'la Fée Verte' (the Green Fairy) became synonymous with Bohemian creative culture in fin-de-siècle Paris. Key roots: absi (Greek: "From French 'absinthe,' from Latin 'absi").