Part 614

Be*reft" (b*rft"), imp. & p. p. of Bereave.

Be*ret"ta (&?;), n. Same as Berretta.

Berg (&?;), n. [√95. See Barrow hill, and cf. Iceberg.] A large mass or hill, as of ice.

Glittering bergs of ice. Tennyson.

Ber"ga*mot (br"g*mt), n. [F. bergamote, fr. It. bergamotta; prob. a corruption of Turk. beg armdi 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).

Ber"gan*der (&?;), n. [Berg, for burrow + gander a male goose? Cf. G. bergente, Dan. gravgaas.] (Zoöl.) A European duck (Anas tadorna). See Sheldrake.

Ber"ger*et (&?;), n. [OF. bergerete, F. berger a shepherd.] A pastoral song. [Obs.]

Bergh (&?;), n. [AS. beorg.] A hill. [Obs.]

Berg"mas`ter (&?;), n. See Barmaster.

Berg"meal (&?;), n. [G. berg mountain + mehl meal.] (Min.) An earthy substance, resembling fine flour. It is composed of the shells of infusoria, and in Lapland and Sweden is sometimes eaten, mixed with flour or ground birch bark, in times of scarcity. This name is also given to a white powdery variety of calcite.

Berg"mote (&?;), n. See Barmote.

Ber"go*mask (&?;), n. A rustic dance, so called in ridicule of the people of Bergamo, in Italy, once noted for their clownishness.

Ber"gylt (&?;), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zoöl.) The Norway haddock. See Rosefish.

Be*rhyme" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Berhymed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Berhyming.] To mention in rhyme or verse; to rhyme about. [Sometimes use depreciatively.] Shak.

||Be`ri*be"ri (&?;), n. [Singhalese beri weakness.] An acute disease occurring in India, characterized by multiple inflammatory changes in the nerves, producing great muscular debility, a painful rigidity of the limbs, and cachexy.

Be*rime" (&?;), v. t. To berhyme. [The earlier and etymologically preferable spelling.]

Berke*le"ian (&?;), a. Of or relating to Bishop Berkeley or his system of idealism; as, Berkeleian philosophy. -- Berke"ley*ism, n.

Ber"lin (&?;), n. [The capital of Prussia] 1. A four-wheeled carriage, having a sheltered seat behind the body and separate from it, invented in the 17th century, at Berlin.

2. Fine worsted for fancy-work; zephyr worsted; -- called also Berlin wool.

Berlin black, a black varnish, drying with almost a dead surface; -- used for coating the better kinds of ironware. Ure. -- Berlin blue, Prussian blue. Ure. -- Berlin green, a complex cyanide of iron, used as a green dye, and similar to Prussian blue. -- Berlin iron, a very fusible variety of cast iron, from which figures and other delicate articles are manufactured. These are often stained or lacquered in imitation of bronze. -- Berlin shop, a shop for the sale of worsted embroidery and the materials for such work. -- Berlin work, worsted embroidery.

{ Berm Berme } (&?;), n. [F. berme, of German origin; cf. G. brame, bräme, border, akin to E. brim.] 1. (Fort.) A narrow shelf or path between the bottom of a parapet and the ditch.

2. (Engineering) A ledge at the bottom of a bank or cutting, to catch earth that may roll down the slope, or to strengthen the bank.