UBS Greek Dictionary Article

Form 1

Part of speech: noun, m./f.

Inflections: ἄψινθος; -ου

Sense 1: wormwood

Semantic entry: 3.21

Semantic domains: Plants

Subdomains: Plants That Are Not Trees

Definition: a particularly bitter herb with medicinal value

Notes: In OET REV 8:11 it may be better to speak of the star as ‘bitterness,’ for example, ‘the name of the star is Bitter’ or ‘… Bitterness.’ It is, of course, also possible to speak of the star as ‘Bitter Plant’ or ‘Bitter Herb.’ A rendering of ἄψινθος as ‘wormy wood’ would be completely misleading and would provide no basis for understanding the second part of verse 11, for which see 79.43: ἄψινθος. (The English term wormwood is derived from the use of the plant as a medicine to kill intestinal worms.)

Forms: Ἄψινθος

Further resources: flora:5.2.7

Show passage in OET: REV 8:11

OET-RV REV 8:11

11 That star is named ‘Bitterness’ and a third of those waters turned bitter. Many people died from the waters, because they became poisonous.

OET-LV REV 8:11

11 and the name of _the star is _being _called which Wormwood.
And became the third of _the waters into wormwood, and many of _the people died _off from the waters, because they _were _made _bitter.

Jump to OET REV 8:11 section.

Sense 2: bitter, bitter like wormwood

Semantic entry: 79.43

Semantic domains: Features of Objects

Subdomains: Sweet, Bitter, Tasteless

Definition: the taste of wormwood, a bitter-tasting herb used as a cure for intestinal worms. Compare 3.21: ἄψινθος.

Notes: As already noted in 3.21: ἄψινθος, the meaning of ἄψινθος in OET REV 8:11 is not that the waters turned into a particular plant but that the waters came to be as bitter as the plant in question.