Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small tree (Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia) commercially grown chiefly in southern Italy for its sour citrus fruits, the rinds of which yield an aromatic oil. Also called bergamot orange.
- n. The oil itself, used extensively in perfumery. Also called bergamot oil.
- n. See bee balm.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A variety of the lime or lemon, Citrus medica, with a very aromatic rind, from which, either by mechanical means or by distillation, the volatile oil of bergamot (known in trade as essence of bergamot) is obtained. The essence is a product chiefly of southern Italy, and is much employed in perfumery.
- n. The popular name of several labiate plants, as in England of Mentha citrata, and in the United States of Monarda fistulosa and M. didyma.
- n. A kind of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
- n. A coarse tapestry manufactured from flocks of wool, silk, cotton, hemp, and from the hair of oxen and goats, said to have been made originally at Bergamo.
- n. A variety of pear.
Wiktionary
- n. A tree of the Orange family (Citrus bergamia), having a roundish or pear-shaped fruit, from the rind of which an essential oil of delicious odor is extracted, much prized as a perfume. Also, the fruit.
- n. Either of two species of the mint family (Europe: Mentha aquatica, variety glabrata; America: Monarda didyma).
- n. The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
- n. A variety of pear. —Johnson.
- n. A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
- n. A coarse tapestry, manufactured from flock of cotton or hemp, mixed with ox's or goat's hair.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A tree of the Orange family (Citrus bergamia), having a roundish or pear-shaped fruit, from the rind of which an essential oil of delicious odor is extracted, much prized as a perfume. Also, the fruit.
- n. A variety of mint (Mentha aquatica, var. glabrata).
- n. The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
- n. A variety of pear.
- n. A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
- n. A coarse tapestry, manufactured from flock of cotton or hemp, mixed with ox's or goat's hair; -- said to have been invented at Bergamo, Italy. Encyc. Brit.
WordNet 3.0
- n. small tree with pear-shaped fruit whose oil is used in perfumery; Italy.
Etymologies
- French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, from Turkish dialectal beg-armudu, bey's pear : beg, bey; see bey + armud, pear + -u, possessive suff.
Examples
“The scent, a fruity-floral blend of Fuji apple, white peach nectar and bergamot, is balanced with white flowers and has base notes of amber, blonde woods and warm sand — designed to capture the come-hither spirit of the 1940s actress.”
“There are many problems with the story, mostly relating to the nationality of the grateful drownee vis a vis the nationality of the tea, but the bergamot is a citrus native to Italy, so who knows where this really came from.”
“I like EG in the morning, as a pick-me up before I face the day often while I catch up on the news online; the citrus of the bergamot is a wonderful complement to the caffeine of the tea.”
“Sniffing it from the bottle, the Habanita top notes are fresh and subtle – a rush of masculine woody notes of mastic a gum from a Mediterranean bush, juniper berry and cedarwood are accompanied by a generous amount of bergamot, which is citrusy but not in the fruity or eau de cologne sense of citrus – a more refined, green and slightly floral note derived from the bergamot bitter non-edible oranges.”
“Watermint, one of the parents of peppermint and sometimes called bergamot or orange mint, has a strong aroma and used to be much cultivated in Europe, but now is more popular in Southeast Asia.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“Confusingly, European water-mint p. 404 is also sometimes called bergamot.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“_Bergamot_: A fruit which was originally produced by ingrafting a branch of a citron or lemon-tree upon the stock of a peculiar kind of pear, called the bergamot pear.”
“_Bergamot_, a fruit, which was originally produced by ingrafting a branch of a citron or lemon tree, upon the stock of a peculiar kind of pear, called the bergamot pear.”
A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School
“I've actually taken to brewing a cup of earl grey tea and leaving it on my desk, so that the bergamot is a sort of scent barrier.”
“The blend is described as bergamot, amber, sandalwood, and vanilla.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bergamot’.
-
probablyankita's list
Words are all I have to take your heart away
apartheid, techno-klutz, logorrheic, gordian knot, anodyne, odor of sanctity, finders keepers, foot-in-mouth dis..., dutch uncle, masquerade, smoke signals, furtive glance and 320 more...
-
Perfumery
perfume, perfumer, aromachologist, fougère, le nez, civet, perfumer's organ, Tapputi, Eau de Cologne, eau de toilette, eau de perfume, eaux and 92 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
-
theyearofglad's list
Awesome words.
palimpsest, portmanteau, prolix, sycophant, eschew, revenant, haecceity, velleity, equipoise, caesura, soteriology, inchoate and 23 more...
qroqqa Two different words: the aromatic component of Earl Grey tea is apparently from Bergamo in Italy, but the pear is from Turkish beğ armudu "bey's pear", altered to resemble the other word. May 14, 2009
mollusque Also a fabric or tapestry of mixed flock and hair (from Bergamo, Italy) (OED2). Dec 22, 2007
avivamagnolia Yup, Colleen! Dang right! That's where I first started to love the word...when I found an Earl Grey tea that was labeled "Double Bergamot." Wonder of wonders - that was a tea to make anyone a tea drinker! Oct 28, 2007
colleen the stuff that makes Earl Grey yummy! Dec 4, 2006
avivamagnolia ber·ga·mot
–noun 1. a small citrus tree, Citrus aurantium bergamia, having fruit with a rind that yields a fragrant essential oil.
2. Also called essence of bergamot. the oil or essence itself.
3. any of various plants of the mint family, as Monarda fistulosa, yielding an oil resembling essence of bergamot.
4. a variety of pear.
American Heritage Dictionary - bee balm
n. An aromatic eastern North American herb (Monarda didyma) in the mint family, having variously colored, tubular bilabiate flowers grouped in dense showy heads. Also called bergamot.
n. A small tree (Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia) commercially grown chiefly in southern Italy for its sour citrus fruits, the rinds of which yield an aromatic oil. Also called bergamot orange. The oil itself, used extensively in perfumery.
French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, from Turkish dialectal beg-armudu, bey's pear : beg, bey; see bey + armud, pear + -u, possessive suff.
Dec 3, 2006