southernwood

American  

[suhth-ern-wood] / ˈsʌð ərnˌwʊd /

noun

1. a woody-stemmed wormwood, Artemisia abrotanum, of southern Europe, having aromatic, finely dissected leaves.

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southernwood British  

/ ˈsʌðənˌwʊd /

noun

1. Also called: old man.   lad's love.  an aromatic shrubby wormwood, Artemisia abrotanum, of S Europe, having finely dissected leaves and small drooping heads of yellowish flowers

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Etymology

Origin of southernwood

before 1000; Middle English southernwode, Old English sūtherne wudu. See southern, wood ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southernwood

Sweet-briar and southernwood, jasmine, pink, and rose have long been yielding their evening sacrifice of incense: this new scent is neither of shrub nor flower; it is—I know it well—it is Mr. Rochester’s cigar.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

A favorite shrub in our garden, as in every country dooryard, was southernwood, or lad's-love.

From Home Life in Colonial Days by Earle, Alice Morse

Lad′die, a little lad: a boy.—Lad's love, a provincial name of the southernwood.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

"You take some southernwood," counseled Sabrina, and he laid her hand gently down, to select his posy.

From Country Neighbors by Brown, Alice

Boy′ishness.—Boy's love, a popular name for southernwood; Boy's play, trifling.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various