bourbon

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a reactionary politician in the United States (usually from the South)
  2. noun whiskey distilled from a mash of corn and malt and rye and aged in charred oak barrels
  3. noun a member of the European royal family that ruled France

Etymology

From bourbon whiskey, originally Bourbon whiskey, of disputed provenance. Generally taken to derive from Bourbon County, Kentucky, but possibly also from Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both derive from the French Bourbon dynasty, named for the lordship of French Bourbon l'Archambault. The town's name derives from Borvo, a local Celtic deity associated with hot springs, from Proto-Celtic *borvo (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to be hot, boil”). See also Borvo.

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