Ber"ga*mot (?), n. [F. bergamote, fr. It. bergamotta; prob. a corruption of Turk. beg armudi a lord's pear.]
1 . Bot. (a)
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. (b) A variety of mint (Mentha aquatica, &var;. glabrata).
2.
The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
3.
A variety of pear.
Johnson.
4.
A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot.
The better hand . . . gives the nose its bergamot. Cowper
.
5.
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.
Wild bergamot Bot., an American herb of the Mint family (Monarda fistulosa).
© Webster 1913.