[bour.bon] n [Bourbon, seigniory in France] (1600) 1 cap: a member of a French family founded in 1272 to which belong the rulers of France from 1589 to 1793 and from 1814 to 1830, of Spain from 1700 to 1808, from 1814 to 1868, from 1875 to 1931, and from 1975, of Naples from 1735 to 1805, and of the Two Sicilies from 1815 to 1860
2. [Bourbon (now Reunion), French island in the Indian Ocean]: a rose (Rosa borboniana) of compact upright growth with shining leaves, prickly branches, and clustered flowers 3 [Bourbon county, Kentucky]: a whiskey distilled from a mash made up of not less than 51 percent corn plus malt and rye--compare corn whiskey
4. often cap: a person who clings obstinately to old social and political ideas; specif: an extremely conservative member of the U.S. Democratic party usu. from the South -- bour.bon.ism n, often cap