means An aromatic fortified wine flavored with botanicals like roots, barks, and herbs, served as an aperitif or used to build cocktails such as the martini and Manhattan.

from The name comes, by way of French, from the German Wermut, meaning 'wormwood' — the bitter herb that originally flavored the drink and that also gives us the word 'vermouth's' boozier cousin, absinthe. So the bottle on your bar carries a quiet botanical ghost: an old name for a plant once trusted to settle stomachs and stir appetites.