orgeat

noun

or·​geat ˈȯr-ˌzhä(t) How to pronounce orgeat (audio)
: a sweet almond-flavored nonalcoholic syrup used as a cocktail ingredient or food flavoring

Examples of orgeat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Besides the obvious rum base, each mixologist shared their special ingredients — Rae used orgeat (an almond liquor) and a homemade guava syrup made from jam, Brown’s version included dry sherry, hibiscus and strawberry syrup, and Johnson’s special sauce was cognac and orange liquor. —Essence, 6 July 2025 This superb take on the classic Trader Vic’s mai tai recipe uses three types of rum, housemade orgeat and a dark rum float. —Katie Sweeney, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025 The latter is made with what is essentially an orgeat syrup, but made with edible seeds. —Mackensy Lunsford, The Tennessean, 10 May 2025 Sea to land To separate the sea courses from the land courses, Bost serves a surprise palate cleanser, a dish of orgeat (almond flavored) ice cream topped with N25 Kaluga caviar, almond oil and shavings of aged celery root. —Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for orgeat

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Middle French, "syrup made from a decoction of barley," probably borrowed from an Old Occitan predecessor of Occitan ordiat, orjat "orgeat," from Old Occitan ordi, orge "barley" (going back to Latin hordeum) + -at -ate entry 1; Latin hordeum going back to *χorzdei̯om, presumed adjectival derivative from dialectal Indo-European *ghers-do- or *ghors-do-, whence also Germanic *gerstōn- "barley," whence Old Saxon & Old High German gersta "barley," Middle Dutch gerste, garste

Note: The hypothetical Old Occitan word is akin to and perhaps modeled on Italian orzata "beverage or infusion made from barley soaked in water, sweet syrup made from germinated barley grains and other ingredients, orgeat"; see note at horchata. — Attempts have been made to link *ghers-do-/*ghors-do- with another group of words: Greek krīthḗ "grain of barley," krīthaí "barley," Homeric krî (originally a root noun *krīth?), Albanian drithë "cereal, grain," Armenian gari (genitive garwoy) "barley." No single pre-form can unite these words, however, and they all may be borrowed from a pre-Indo-European substratum; compare Basque gari "wheat," perhaps itself a borrowing. In opposition to this hypothesis, *ghers-do-/*ghors-do- have been taken as formed from root extensions of a verbal base *ǵhers- "bristle, become stiff" (see horror entry 1), a name suggested by the long awns of barley; compare Old English gorst gorse, taken as a transfer of the same etymon to a thorny plant.

First Known Use

1754, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of orgeat was in 1754

Rhymes for orgeat

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orgastic
orgeat
orgia
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Cite this Entry

“Orgeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orgeat. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.

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