Bourbon

[boor-buhn, bawr-, bohr-, boor-bawn, bur-buhn]

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.

Bourbon

¹

/ 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

bourbon

²

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bourbon¹

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

Example Sentences

Appeared in the October 8, 2025, print edition as 'Bourbon Bust Is Sobering Reality for Kentucky Distillers'.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Delhi has already lowered tariffs on Bourbon whiskey, motorcycles and some other US products, but the US has a $45bn trade deficit with India, which Trump wants to reduce.

Read more on BBC

It’s worse than that: Like Stalin’s inner circle or a Bourbon king’s courtiers, Trump’s factotums seek to outdo each other in embracing absurd, impossible, offensive and dangerous ideas.

Read more on Salon

Chamberlain quickly began doing guest roles on TV series such as “Gunsmoke,” “Bourbon Street Beat” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Last month, ahead of Prime Minister Modi's meeting with Trump in Washington, India unilaterally lowered tariffs on Bourbon whiskey, motorcycles and some other US products.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• alcohol 
• drink 
• liquor 
• spirits www.thesaurus.com