bittern
/ˈbɪtəɹn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.09 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The saline substance added to soy milk to coagulate it as a primary step in the production of tofu.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculus indicus, etc., used by fraudulent brewers in adulterating beer.
Archaic; Countable; Uncountable
name
A town in the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Example Sentences
- "It is a great rock or cliff on the loneliest part of the mountains, and […] is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of it is a small lake, the haunt of the solitary bittern, with water-snakes basking in the sun on the leaves of the pond-lilies which lie on the surface."
- "Now we add the bittern."
Etymology
From Middle English bitour, botor, from Old French butor, from Gallo-Roman *butitaurus, a blend of Latin būtiō (“bittern”) and taurus (“bull, ox”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: bitour
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɪtəɹn/
- British English: /ˈbɪtən/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
American bittern
Australasian bittern
black bittern
cinnamon bittern
common bittern
dwarf bittern
Eurasian bittern
forest bittern