wormwood
/ˈwɚm.wʊd/noun
wormwood is spelled W-O-R-M-W-O-O-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wormwood means “An intensely bitter herb (Artemisia absinthium and similar plants in genus Artemisia) used in medicine, in the production of absinthe and vermouth…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wormwood is wormwoods.
How many letters and syllables are in wormwood?
| Letters | 8: W-O-R-M-W-O-O-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is wormwood?
Wormwood appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wormwood?
- UK /ˈwɜːm.wʊd/
- British /ˈwəːm.wɵd/
- US /ˈwɚm.wʊd/
Wormwood has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wormwood.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with wormwood?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as wormwood (/əɹmwʊd/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: woodworm.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of wormwood
- wormwoods plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wormwood mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An intensely bitter herb (Artemisia absinthium and similar plants in genus Artemisia) used in medicine, in the production of absinthe and vermouth, and as a tonic.
- 2
Something that causes bitterness or affliction; a cause of mortification or vexation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wormwood in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | armoise, absinthe , fiel, amertume |
| German | Wermut , Wermutstropfen |
| Portuguese | absinto , amargura |
| Spanish | ajenjo, absintio, alosna , amargor, amargura, mortificación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wormwood come from?
From Middle English wormwode, a folk etymology (as if worm + wood) of wermode (“wormwood”), from Old English wermōd (“wormwood, absinthe”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjamōdā (“wormwood”). Cognate with Middle Low German wermode, wermede (“wormwood”), German Wermut (“wormwood”). Doublet of vermouth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).