Standard Lemma guide

amaretto

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌæməˈɹɛtəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌæməˈɹɛtoʊ/
  • General-American: /ˌɑməˈɹɛtoʊ/
  • General-American: [-ɾoʊ]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛtəʊ
  • homophone: amoretto
  • CMU ARPABET: AE0 M AH0 R EH1 T OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sweet-bitter liqueur originating from Italy (but also produced in Turkey), flavored with almonds and a secret blend-specific mix of some 200 ingredients such as the pits from apricots, peaches, cherries or other stone fruits.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Amaretto makes a fine digestive.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ratafia

2

noun

Meaning 2

A serving of that liqueur.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • Gino has an amaretto on the porch after every elaborate meal.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A light Italian cookie made with almonds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

an Italian almond liqueur

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liqueur, cordial

History

Etymology

From Italian amaretto, from amaro (“bitter”) (from Latin amarus) + diminutive suffix -etto.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: горчив бадемов ликьор — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Chinese Mandarin: 意大利苦杏酒 (Yìdàlì kǔxìngjiǔ) — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Czech: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Dutch: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Finnish: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • French: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • German: Amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Greek: αμαρέτο (amaréto) — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Italian: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Japanese: アマレット (amaretto) — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Portuguese: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Portuguese: amareto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Russian: амаре́тто (amarétto) — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Spanish: amaretto — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Yiddish: אַמאַרעטאָ (amareto) — a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur
  • Spanish: amargo — a light cookie made with almonds
  • Spanish: amarguillo — a light cookie made with almonds