bourbon

UK: 'bourbon': /ˈbɜːbən/, US: /ˈbɜː^rbən/; 'Bourbon': English: /ˈbʊəbən/, French: /burbɔ̃/

US: /bɝbən/

US: (bŏŏr′bən, bôr′-, bōr′- or, Fr., bo̅o̅r bôn′ for 1–3; bûr′bən for 4 or occas. for 3)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bour•bon /ˈbɜrbən/   n. [uncountable]

1. Wine Also called ˈbour•bon ˈwhis•key. a straight whiskey distilled from corn:
   Bourbon was originally the corn whiskey from Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bourbon / ˈbɜːb^ən/ 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

Etymology: 19th Century: named after Bourbon county, Kentucky, where it was first made

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

Bour•bon  (bŏŏr′bən, bôr′-, bōr′- or, Fr., bo̅o̅r bôn′ for 1–3; bûr′bən for 4 or occas. for 3), n. 

1. Biographical, World History a member of a French royal family that ruled in France 1589–1792, Spain 1700–1931, and Naples 1735–1806, 1815–60.
Charles  (sharl), ("Constable de Bourbon''), 1490–1527, French general.
2. World History a person who is extremely conservative or reactionary.
3. Wine (l.c.) Also called bour′bon whis′key. a straight whiskey distilled from a mash having 51 percent or more corn: originally the corn whiskey produced in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Bourbon / ˈbʊəb^ən burbɔ̃/ noun

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