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taste

noun
/teɪst/

Etymology

The verb is from Middle English tasten, borrowed from Old French taster (“to taste, touch or hit”), from unattested Vulgar Latin *tastāre (“to touch or feel”), from *taxitāre, an innovated iterative form of Classical Latin taxāre (“to touch sharply”), from tangere (“to touch, to grasp”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-, which is assumed to have had the same meaning as tangere. The noun came from the verb, and the two conflated after English lost its infinitive suffix -en, though tasten was most likely already used nominatively (as a gerund), similar to Modern English tasting. Almost fully displaced native smack, from Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæċċ (“taste, smatch”). Displaced English smatch, from Middle English smacchen, smecchen, from Old English smæċċan (“to taste; to smack”); displaced also Middle English buriȝen, from Old English bierġan (“to taste”).

  1. derived from *teh₂g-✻
  2. derived from taxo
  3. derived from *tastāre✻
  4. derived from taster
  5. inherited from tasten

Definitions

  1. One of the sensations produced by the tongue in response to certain chemicals

    One of the sensations produced by the tongue in response to certain chemicals; the quality of giving this sensation.

    • He had a strange taste in his mouth.
    • Venison has a strong taste.
    • Like smell, taste has been found to imprint our minds with strong memories.

  2. The sense that consists in the perception and interpretation of this sensation.

    • His taste was impaired by an illness.

  3. A small sample of food, drink, or recreational drugs.

  4. ›+ 12 more definitions

    1. A person's implicit set of preferences, especially esthetic, though also culinary,…

      A person's implicit set of preferences, especially esthetic, though also culinary, sartorial, etc.

      • Dr. Parker has good taste in wine.
      • That's very true indeed Sir Peter! after having married you I should never pretend to Taste again I allow.

    2. Personal preference

      Personal preference; liking; predilection.

      • I have developed a taste for fine wine.

    3. A small amount of experience with something that gives a sense of its quality as a whole.

      • Such anecdotes give one a taste of life on a trauma ward.
      • Sir Humphrey Appleby: Bernard, what do you want? / Bernard Woolley: I want to have a clear conscience. / […] / Sir Humphrey Appleby: When did you acquire this taste for luxuries (laugh track)?
      • I'm all out of luck / I'm all out of faith / I would give everything just for one taste / But everything's here, all out of place[…]

    4. A kind of narrow and thin silk ribbon.

    5. To sample the flavor of something orally.

      • when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine

    6. To have a taste

      To have a taste; to excite a particular sensation by which flavor is distinguished.

      • The chicken tasted great, but the milk tasted like garlic.

    7. To identify (a flavor) by sampling something orally.

      • I can definitely taste the marzipan in this cake.

    8. To experience.

      • I tasted in her arms the delights of paradise.
      • They had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.
      • He […] should taste death for every man.

    9. To take sparingly.

    10. To try by eating a little

      To try by eating a little; to eat a small quantity of.

      • I tasted a little of this honey.

    11. To try by the touch

      To try by the touch; to handle.

      • to taste the bow

    12. Deliberate misspelling of tasty.

The neighborhood

Derived

acquired taste, aftertaste, all of one's taste is in one's mouth, all one's taste is in one's mouth, bad taste in one's mouth, champagne taste on a beer billfold, champagne taste on a beer budget, champagne taste on a beer pocketbook, champagne taste on a beer salary, champagne taste on a beer wallet, in bad taste, in poor taste, leave a sour taste in one's mouth, smaste, tastebud, tasteless, taste map, taste-off, taste of one's own medicine, taste of one's own poison, taste pore, taste-test, tasty, there's no accounting for taste, to one's taste, to someone's taste, to taste, taste blood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at taste. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01taste02tongue03moth04flying05hurried06hurry07leading08ranking09rank

A definitional loop anchored at taste. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at taste

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA