Italian vermouth
- noun
- /ɪˈtæljən vərˈmuːθ/
:
vermouth italiano
- For a refreshing cocktail, mix gin with 1 ounce of Italian vermouth and a twist of lemon.
Examples
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Many classic cocktails, such as the Negroni, call for Italian vermouth as a key ingredient.
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The bar ran out of Italian vermouth, so they substituted it with a dry version.
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He prefers Italian vermouth over the French variety because of its richer, sweeter flavor.
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I love Italian vermouth in my cocktails.
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Have you tried Italian vermouth with soda?
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The bartender recommended using Italian vermouth in our Negroni for added sweetness.
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To create the perfect Martini, add a splash of Italian vermouth to the gin before stirring.
Synonyms
14
7.8
A strong wine flavored with herbs and spices, drunk before a meal or used in mixed drinks
1
6.0
Dark, sweet wine made stronger with alcohol and flavored with herbs for cocktails
How Sweet
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a variety of vermouth produced in Italy' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Italian' (from Italy) with 'vermouth' (a fortified wine). This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition following normal modifier semantics and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Italian vermouth comes from wines flavored with an herb called 'wormwood'. The word vermouth refers to that herb, and Italian winemakers mixed it with local sweet wines to make a darker, 'sweet' drink, so Italian vermouth now means a 'sweet', dark style of vermouth used in cocktails.