bergamot

[ bur-guh-mot, -muht ]

/ ˈbɜr gəˌmɒt, -mət /

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noun

a small citrus tree, Citrus aurantium bergamia, having fruit with a rind that yields a fragrant essential oil.

Also called essence of bergamot. the oil or essence itself.

any of various plants of the mint family, as Monarda fistulosa, yielding an oil resembling essence of bergamot.

a variety of pear.

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Origin of bergamot

1610–20; <French bergamote<Italian bergamotta<Ottoman Turkish; compare Mod Turkish bey armudlu literally, bey's pear (beybey + armut pear (<Persian ) + -u 3rd singular possessive suffix); Italian form perhaps by association with Bergamo, Bergama, with -otta as alteration to a familiar suffix; the citrus apparently so called from its resemblance to the pear

Words nearby bergamot

berg, bergall, Bergama, bergamasca, Bergamo, bergamot, bergamot mint, Bergdama, Bergen, Bergen-Belsen, Bergenfield

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bergamot in a sentence

Before you try analyzing the bergamot accents and patchouli notes of your favorite perfume though, you can aim for something simpler by playing around with essential oils.
How to enhance your senses of smell and taste|Sandra Gutierrez G.|September 7, 2021|Popular-Science
It's also amazing that this dressed-up baby is getting thrown out with its bergamot-scented bathwater.
Why We Despise Sex and the City|Choire Sicha|May 31, 2010|DAILY BEAST
No more were bergamot or southern-wood, although vegetable in their nature.
My Lady Ludlow|Elizabeth Gaskell
My handkerchief smelt of lavender, and my hair of oil of thyme—my waistcoat of bergamot, and my inexpressibles of musk.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction|Various

Rub the musk with the bergamot, then add it to the soap, and beat up.
The Art of Perfumery|G. W. Septimus Piesse
Oil of bergamot, is extracted by pressure from the rind of the ripe fruit of the citrus bergamium and aurantium.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
A great round bed of "Robin-run-away," bergamot, that scented the air and attracted the humming-birds.
A Little Girl in Old New York|Amanda Millie Douglas

British Dictionary definitions for bergamot

bergamot

/ (ˈbɜːɡəˌmɒt) /

noun

Also called: bergamot orange a small Asian spiny rutaceous tree, Citrus bergamia, having sour pear-shaped fruit

essence of bergamot a fragrant essential oil from the fruit rind of this plant, used in perfumery and some teas (including Earl Grey)

a Mediterranean mint, Mentha citrata, that yields an oil similar to essence of bergamot

wild bergamot a North American plant, Monarda fistulosa, with clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
a garden plant of the same genus, usually M. didyma (bee balm), grown for its scarlet or pink flowers

a variety of pear

Word Origin for bergamot

C17: from French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, of Turkic origin; related to Turkish bey-armudu prince's pear; see bey

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012