absinthismn.
/ˈabsɪnθɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈæbˌsɪnθɪz(ə)m/ Medicine. Now chiefly historical.
Acute or (usually) chronic intoxication with absinthe.Absinthism was said to be characterized by hallucinations, seizures, sleep disorders, and ultimately death. It has often been attributed to poisoning by thujone (absinthol), which is present in absinthe, but may have been simply a severe form of alcoholism.
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the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > addiction to alcohol or habitual drinking > specific drink
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absinthism1866
1866 S. Thomson Dict. Domest. Med. & Househ. Surg. (ed. 9) App. p. i/2 Dr. Decaisne has observed more than 150 cases of chronic absinthism.
1869 Lancet 6 Mar. 334/1 We do maintain that as yet no symptoms of absintheism have been described which are not to be met with in many of the victims of simple alcoholic excess.
1915 Times 3 Apr. 7/6 Thus absinthism makes mad those who suffer from it and weak-minded the next generation.
1992 J. Mann Murder, Magic, & Med. (1994) iii. 107 In small amounts it [sc. absinthe] was said to stimulate the mind and sexual appetite, but in excessive amounts it produced terrifying hallucinations and eventually a condition termed ‘absinthism’.
2005 Wired Nov. 177/1 For a century, absinthe has been demonized and outlawed, based on the belief that it leads to absinthism—far worse than alcoholism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1866