Artemisia
/ˌɑːrtɪˈmiːziə/noun
A large genus of aromatic plants in the daisy family, including mugwort, wormwood, and sagebrush.
Did you know?Several Artemisia species were used in traditional European and Asian herbal practices, while wormwood—Artemisia absinthium—became famous as the defining bitter botanical in absinthe.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Greek
Greek
ἀρτεμισία (artemisia)
“A plant name recorded in Greek botanical and medical tradition; its precise naming origin is debated.”
1st Century CE
Greek
ἀρτεμισία (artemisia)
“Used by Dioscorides for an aromatic medicinal plant, probably including species later classified within Artemisia.”
1st–2nd Century CE
Latin
artemisia
“Latin botanical borrowing referring to wormwood-like or mugwort-like plants.”
Middle Ages
Medieval Latin
artemisia
“A medicinal herb name preserved in European herbal and pharmacological writing.”
16th–17th Century
New Latin
Artemisia
“Adopted as the formal genus name in emerging botanical classification.”
Modern English
English
artemisia
“The genus comprising mugworts, wormwoods, sagebrushes, and related aromatic plants.”
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