Artemisinin
/ˌɑːr.tɪˈmɪs.ɪ.nɪn/noun
A potent antimalarial compound derived chiefly from sweet wormwood, Artemisia annua.
Did you know?Artemisinin’s name ultimately comes through Artemisia, the plant genus named for Artemis, although the goddess’s own name has an uncertain and debated origin.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
Ἄρτεμις (Artemis)
“Name of the Greek goddess of the hunt; the deeper origin of the name is uncertain.”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
artemisia
“A plant name used for members of the wormwood or mugwort group, borrowed from Greek artemisia.”
Modern botanical Latin
Botanical Latin
Artemisia annua
“The scientific name for annual wormwood, or sweet wormwood, the plant later identified as a source of the compound.”
1972
Chinese scientific usage
qinghaosu
“The compound isolated from Qinghao, the Chinese name for sweet wormwood; the name literally refers to a substance derived from qinghao.”
1970s–1980s
Scientific English
artemisinin
“The international scientific name formed from Artemisia with the chemical suffix -in.”
Modern English
English
artemisinin
“A widely used antimalarial drug compound, especially important against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.”