Link Centre Dictionary

taste

UK/teɪst/ US/ˈteɪst/ common
noun (7) verb (6)

noun

1.

the sensation that results when taste buds in the tongue and throat convey information about the chemical composition of a soluble stimulus

  • “the candy left him with a bad taste”
  • “the melon had a delicious taste”
Synonyms
2.

a strong liking

  • “my own preference is for good literature”
  • “the Irish have a penchant for blarney”
Synonyms
3.

delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values)

  • “arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid success”
  • “to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in bad taste”
Synonyms
4.

a brief experience of something

  • “he got a taste of life on the wild side”
  • “she enjoyed her brief taste of independence”
5.

a small amount eaten or drunk

  • “take a taste--you”
Synonyms
6.

the faculty of taste

  • “his cold deprived him of his sense of taste”
Synonyms
7.

a kind of sensing; distinguishing substances by means of the taste buds

  • “a wine tasting”
Synonyms

verb

1.

have flavor; taste of something

Synonyms
2.

take a sample of

  • “Try these new crackers”
  • “Sample the regional dishes”
Synonyms
3.

perceive by the sense of taste

  • “Can you taste the garlic?”
4.

have a distinctive or characteristic taste

  • “This tastes of nutmeg”
Synonyms
5.

distinguish flavors

  • “We tasted wines last night”
6.

experience briefly

  • “The ex-slave tasted freedom shortly before she died”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • acquired taste Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • all of one's taste is in one's mouth Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • all one's taste is in one's mouth Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • bad taste in one's mouth Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • champagne taste on a beer billfold Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • champagne taste on a beer budget Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • champagne taste on a beer pocketbook Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • champagne taste on a beer salary Terms derived from taste (noun)
  • taste blood

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.