wormwood

Everyday

1. A plant with silvery-grey leaves and a very bitter taste, used long ago in medicine and in some strong drinks. tree →
2. Something very bitter or painful to bear: «The defeat was wormwood to him.» tree →
3. (Bible) In the Bible wormwood stands for bitterness and sorrow, and in the Book of Revelation «Wormwood» is the name of a star that falls and makes waters bitter. tree →

In the lessons

In science and history lessons it is a herb of old medicine; its name comes from an old belief that it drove out worms. In stories and poems «gall and wormwood» means great bitterness. In the Bible (Lamentations, Revelation) it is a sign of grief. Phrases: «gall and wormwood», «as bitter as wormwood».

Examples

• Wormwood has soft grey leaves and smells strong. tree →
• The old herbalist hung bunches of wormwood to dry. tree →
• Wormwood tastes so bitter that nobody wanted a second sip. tree →
• In the story, losing the race was wormwood to the proud prince. tree →
• In Revelation, a star called Wormwood falls from the sky. tree →
• Gardeners sometimes plant wormwood to keep some insects away. tree →
• But scarcely had he drunk a very little of the water when he became worse than before, for it was as bitter as wormwood. tree →

Note

Usually uncountable. It is not a worm and not wood. Some wormwood is poisonous in large amounts, so never eat wild plants. In Ukrainian, a kind of wormwood is called «chornobyl», which people sometimes link to the Chernobyl story.

In Jewish tradition

A very bitter plant. In Proverbs and Lamentations it stands for bitterness and sorrow.

Interpretation. The tradition reads wormwood as a picture of suffering, such as the grief of the people after Jerusalem fell.

Examples

• Remember mine affliction and mine anguish, the wormwood and the gall. (Writings LAM.3.19, JPS 1917) tree →
• But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. (Writings PRO.5.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• He hath filled me with bitterness, He hath sated me with wormwood. (Writings LAM.3.15, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Usually uncountable. It is not a worm and not wood. Some wormwood is poisonous in large amounts, so never eat wild plants. In Ukrainian, a kind of wormwood is called «chornobyl», which people sometimes link to the Chernobyl story.