bergamot

IPA/ˈbɜːɡəmɒt/
IPA/ˈbɜːrɡəmɑːt/

bergamot — noun

  • bergamotsingular
  • bergamotsplural

1. a small citrus fruit grown mainly in southern Italy, with a yellow-green skin an

1.noun
Definition

a small citrus fruit grown mainly in southern Italy, with a yellow-green skin and a sour taste, used for its sweet smell rather than for eating; also the Mediterranean tree on which this fruit grows.

Example

Farmers in Calabria harvest bergamot by hand each winter to protect the fragile peel.

geographical context: Calabria, Italy as the main growing region

Sofia held up a bergamot at the market, mistaking it for a small green lemon.

named subject, comparative recognition in a scene

Common collocations
  • bergamot tree
  • bergamot peel
  • bergamot orange
  • harvest bergamot
Synonyms
  • bergamot orange

    fuller name often used to make clear it refers to the fruit, not the herb

Grammar Patterns

a bergamot

bergamot trees

Usage Note

Often appears as a modifier in compound noun phrases (bergamot tree, bergamot peel, bergamot orange). When used alone, it usually refers to the fruit itself rather than the tree.

Common Mistakes

I ate a whole bergamot like an orange.
I sliced a bergamot to flavour my tea.
bergamots are too sour to eat as a regular fruit; they are used for peel, oil, and flavouring.

2. a sweet, slightly bitter scented oil that is pressed out of bergamot rind, widel

2.noun
Definition

a sweet, slightly bitter scented oil that is pressed out of bergamot rind, widely used to flavour Earl Grey tea and to add fragrance to perfumes, soaps, and candles.

Example

Earl Grey tea gets its bright, lemony aroma from bergamot sprayed onto the black tea leaves.

famous use case: Earl Grey tea flavouring

Noa dripped five drops of bergamot into her warm bath after a long day at the hospital.

named subject, aromatherapy collocation: drops of bergamot

Common collocations
  • bergamot oil
  • drop of bergamot
  • scented with bergamot
  • notes of bergamot
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

a drop of bergamot

scented with bergamot

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable. Frequently appears in lists of scent notes alongside other oils, and in product descriptions for tea, cosmetics, and aromatherapy.

Common Mistakes

She bought three bergamots for her diffuser.
She bought a bottle of bergamot for her diffuser.
when talking about the oil, use 'a bottle / a drop / some bergamot', not a count.

3. a North American garden plant in the mint family (genus Monarda) with red, pink,

3.noun
Definition

a North American garden plant in the mint family (genus Monarda) with red, pink, or purple flowers, whose leaves carry a faint citrus smell and are sometimes used in tea; commonly called wild bergamot or bee balm.

Example

Bees and butterflies crowded around the bright pink bergamot in Aunt Marta's garden.

named subject, pollinator collocation

Hikers in Vermont often spot wild bergamot blooming along sunny forest edges in July.

common compound: wild bergamot, geographical range

Common collocations
  • wild bergamot
  • bergamot leaves
  • bergamot flowers
  • clump of bergamot
Synonyms
  • bee balm

    the most common everyday name for this herb in American English

  • wild bergamot

    specifically the wild, lavender-flowered species

  • Monarda

    the scientific genus name, used in gardening and botany books

Grammar Patterns

wild bergamot

a clump of bergamot

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1 and sense 2: those refer to the Mediterranean citrus fruit and its oil, while this sense refers to a completely different North American flowering herb. The form 'wild bergamot' or 'bee balm' is often used to avoid confusion.

Common Mistakes

I bought bergamot at the garden centre to make Earl Grey tea.
I bought bergamot at the garden centre for the bees.
the herb sold as a plant is unrelated to the citrus oil used in Earl Grey.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four are all small, sour citrus fruits, but they are used very differently. A lemon is the everyday yellow fruit found in almost every kitchen, used widely in drinks, dressings, and cleaning. A lime is smaller and green, with a sharper, more tropical flavour, common in Latin American and Southeast Asian cooking. Yuzu is a knobbly East Asian citrus, prized in Japanese and Korean cuisine for its floral aroma. A bergamot, by contrast, is rarely eaten: its main value is its sweet, perfumed peel, which flavours Earl Grey tea and luxury perfumes. So a cook reaching for sourness picks a lemon or lime; a perfumer or tea blender reaches for a bergamot.

bergamot ↗lemon ↗lime ↗yuzu

Common collocations

Nouns

  • bergamot tree
  • bergamot orange
  • bergamot oil
  • bergamot peel
  • bergamot leaves

Phrases

  • scented with bergamot
  • notes of bergamot
  • wild bergamot
  • drop of bergamot

Prepositions

  • of bergamot
  • with bergamot

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

The word 'bergamot' came into English in the late 1600s from French 'bergamote', which itself was borrowed from Italian 'bergamotta'. The Italian name is usually linked to the city of Bergamo in northern Italy, where the fruit was once traded, though some scholars suggest a Turkish root meaning 'prince's pear'. The herb sense (genus Monarda) is much later: early American settlers gave the plant the same name because its crushed leaves smelled like the imported Italian fruit.