Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small tree (Citrus bergamia) commercially grown chiefly in southern Italy for its sour citrus fruits, the rinds of which yield an aromatic oil.
  • noun The oil itself, used extensively in perfumery.
  • noun Any of various aromatic plants in the genus Monarda of the mint family.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A variety of pear.
  • noun 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.
  • noun The popular name of several labiate plants, as in England of Mentha citrata, and in the United States of Monarda fistulosa and M. didyma.
  • noun A kind of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
  • noun 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.
  • noun A variety of mint (Mentha aquatica, var. glabrata).
  • noun The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
  • noun A variety of pear.
  • noun A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
  • noun 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.
  • noun (Bot.) an American herb of the Mint family (Monarda fistulosa).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A coarse tapestry, manufactured from flock of cotton or hemp, mixed with ox's or goat's hair.
  • noun botany 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.
  • noun botany Either of two species of the mint family (Europe: Mentha aquatica, variety glabrata; America: Monarda didyma).
  • noun The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
  • noun A variety of pear.
  • noun A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun small tree with pear-shaped fruit whose oil is used in perfumery; Italy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, from earlier Turkish beg armudu, bey's pear (now modern Turkish bey armudu) : beg, bey; see bey + armut, armud-, pear + -u, possessive suff.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Bergamo

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta; probably a corruption of Turkish bey armudu ("a lord's pear").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bergamot.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • 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.

    December 4, 2006

  • the stuff that makes Earl Grey yummy!

    December 4, 2006

  • 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!

    October 28, 2007

  • Also a fabric or tapestry of mixed flock and hair (from Bergamo, Italy) (OED2).

    December 23, 2007

  • 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 15, 2009

  • Captain Picard's Early Grey tea was made from this.

    July 23, 2012

  • also a course goat hair tapestry originally made in Bergamo

    August 26, 2012