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• Bourbon
  Bourbon

  noun

  a member of a French royal family that ruled in France 1589–1792, Spain 1700–1931, and Naples 1735–1806, 1815–60.
• bourbon
  bourbon

  noun

  a whiskey distilled, chiefly in the US, from maize, esp one containing at least 51 per cent maize (the rest being malt and rye) and aged in charred white-oak barrels

Bourbon

American  

[boor-buhn, bawr-, bohr-, boor-bawn, bur-buhn] / ˈbʊər bən, ˈbɔr-, ˈboʊr-, burˈbɔ̃, ˈbɜr bən /

noun

1. a member of a French royal family that ruled in France 1589–1792, Spain 1700–1931, and Naples 1735–1806, 1815–60.

2. Charles Constable de Bourbon, 1490–1527, French general.

3. a person who is extremely conservative or reactionary.

4. Also called bourbon whiskey.  (lowercase) a straight whiskey distilled from a mash having 51 percent or more corn: originally the corn whiskey produced in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

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Bourbon ¹ British  

/ burbɔ̃, ˈbʊəbən /

noun

1. 1. a member of the European royal line that ruled in France from 1589 to 1793 (when Louis XVI was executed by the revolutionaries) and was restored in 1815, continuing to rule in its Orleans branch from 1830 until 1848. Bourbon dynasties also ruled in Spain (1700–1808; 1813–1931) and Naples and Sicily (1734–1806; 1815–1860)

   2. ( as modifier )

      the Bourbon kings

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bourbon ² British  

/ ˈbɜːbən /

noun

1. a whiskey distilled, chiefly in the US, from maize, esp one containing at least 51 per cent maize (the rest being malt and rye) and aged in charred white-oak barrels

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Etymology

Origin of bourbon

C19: named after Bourbon county, Kentucky, where it was first made

Explanation

Bourbon is a type of barrel-aged whiskey made in Kentucky. This is a strong, but popular, type of liquor. Bourbon may be French in origin, but the whiskey bearing this name is all-American: it’s named for Bourbon County, Kentucky. Bourbon isn't the kind of alcohol you can drink a pint of, like beer. Bourbon has a strong, bitter taste and it's very high in alcohol. Bourbon is made from corn, malt, and rye, and it's aged in barrels: this adds to the taste and potency. Visitors to Kentucky love to tour bourbon distilleries.

Example Sentences

There’s even a tiny pop/rock subgenre of songs based on Anne Rice’s vampire novels: Sting’s “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” Annie Lennox’s “Love Song for a Vampire,” and Concrete Blonde’s “Bloodletting.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

Even more remarkably, Will’s thought processes have resembled the French statesman Talleyrand’s description of the Bourbon kings: “They forgot nothing and they learned nothing.”

From Salon • Dec. 20, 2025

Gaffigan called this special “niche,” but the truth is, when he’s the symposiarch, “The Bourbon Set” is an oak barrel of straight-up laughs for the masses.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

Bourbon production rose, too, filling a record 3.2 million barrels of bourbon in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025

Nat stared across the water until the rugged peaks of Bourbon loomed on the horizon.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

Related Words

• alcohol
• drink
• liquor
• spirits