bergamot

/berr"geuh mot', -meuht/, n.

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.

[1610-20; < F bergamote < It bergamotta < Ottoman Turk; cf. Mod Turk bey armudlu lit., bey's pear (bey BEY + armut pear ( < Pers) + -u 3d sing. possessive suffix); It form perh. by assoc. with BERGAMO, BERGAMA, with -otta as alter. to a familiar suffix; the citrus appar. so called from its resemblance to the pear]

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Any of several North American perennial plants of the mint family, also known as bee balm, fragrant balm, and Indian's plume.

The leaves are used as an herb to flavour tea, punches, lemonade, and other cold drinks. Monarda didyma, native to the U.S., is made into Oswego tea, a beverage used by the American Indian Oswego tribe and said to be the drink adopted by the 18th-century colonists during their boycott of British tea. The pear-shaped fruit of the bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia), found chiefly in Calabria, Italy, is valued by the flavouring and perfume industries for the essential oil extracted from its peel. The bergamot pear, a popular winter pear cultivated in Britain, is a large, round fruit with yellowish green skin.

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▪ herb

      any of several North American perennial plants of the mint family, Lamiaceae (or Labiatae); their leaves are used as an herb. Monarda didyma, a variety native to the United States, is made into Oswego tea, a beverage used by the Oswego tribe of American Indians and said to be the drink adopted by American colonists during their boycott of British tea. The leaves are also used to flavour punches, lemonade, and other cold drinks. Other names for the aromatic herb include bee balm, fragrant balm, and Indian's plume.

      The bergamot orange, Citrus bergamia, is found chiefly in the south Italian province of Calabria and yields a pear-shaped fruit valued by the flavouring and perfume industries for the essential oil extracted from its peel. The bergamot pear, a popular winter pear cultivated in Britain since the time of the Romans, is a large, round fruit with a yellowish green skin that has russet markings.

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