Mugwort

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈmʌɡwəːt/

Origin

Old English mucgwyrt, mucwyrt et al., from Proto-Germanic; probably corresponding to midge + wort. Cognate with regional Low German muggart, mugwurz.

Full definition of mugwort

Noun

1. (botany) Any of several aromatic plants of the genus Artemisia native to Europe and Asia.
2. Artemisia vulgaris, also common wormwood, used as a herb in cooking.
• 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 197:Mugwort is with good success put among other herbs that are boiled, for women to sit over the hot decoction to draw down their courses, to help the delivery of the birth and expel the afterbirth, as also for the obstructions and inflammations of the mother.

Synonyms

• absinthe, artemisia, wormwood