bergamot

American  

[bur-guh-mot, -muht] / ˈbɜr gəˌmɒt, -mət /

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.

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bergamot British  

/ ˈbɜːɡəˌmɒt /

noun

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

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

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

4. 1. a North American plant, Monarda fistulosa , with clusters of purple flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

   2. a garden plant of the same genus, usually M. didyma (bee balm), grown for its scarlet or pink flowers

5. a variety of pear

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Etymology

Origin of bergamot

1610–20; < French bergamote < Italian bergamotta < Ottoman Turkish; compare Mod Turkish bey armudlu literally, bey's pear ( bey bey + armut pear (< Persian ) + -u 3rd-person 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

Example Sentences

The house vermouth pitches in with a faint bitter complexity; fainter still, and thankfully so, is the Earl Grey’s floral bergamot.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2023

The perfume industry has long relied on a small number of scents, like jasmine, rose or bergamot.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2023

Their Sandlewood Silked Waves candle depicts a person wearing a durag on its label and is scented with vanilla, honeysuckle, bergamot and floral lavender.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2022

The spices and bergamot orange oil that are infused into the tea complement each other, giving the dessert a tantalizing blend of milk, zest and spice.

From Washington Post • May 12, 2022

In the heat of late summer, the scent of her bergamot hair pomade was like sweet, sun-hot oranges.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce