What is Wormwood?

Other than the reference in Revelation 8 11 I don't know. Interesting question though, I await a better answer.

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

 

From Strong's

Wormwood

H3939
לענה
la‛ănâh
lah-an-aw'
From an unused root supposed to mean to curse; wormwood (regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed): - hemlock, wormwood.


The strange woman in Prov. 5:5 speaks sweet words that drip off of her lips like honey, but in reality they are poison.

 

Well Webster states:

While 'stomachic' refers to being medicinal, it is of note what 'corroborant' means which is used as an additive for strengthening whatever it is added to.

Historically it was used as a medicine in many pagan cultures (such as Greeks) to help bring on menstration/furtility. But it's typical usage in scripture is that of it's natural unprocessed properties being both bitter and harmful resulting even in death.

Here are all the passages with wormwood in them.

This from Vincint Word Studies:

 

Just wait until Benefactor reads it. He'll have it ('wormwood' that is) designated as a biblical description for Calvinistic theology and then prove to us all how that's what the Greek really is.:smilewinkgrin:

 

From Dictionary.Com

I wonder what word English translators would have used prior to 1350?