▪ I. taste, n.1
(teɪst)
Forms: 4–8 tast, 4–5 taast, 4–6 (Sc. –7) taist, (6 Sc. test), 5– taste.
[a. OF. tast touching, touch, = It. tasto a feeling, a touch, a trial, a taste (Florio); f. OF. taster (mod.F. tâter), It. tastare: see taste v. Cf. also OF. taste, It. tasta, a surgical probe.]
I. † 1. The sense of touch, feeling (with the hands, etc.); the act of touching, touch. Obs.
| [1292 Britton iii. ii. §13 Et puis soynt chargez qe eles..enquergent de la femme qe se fet enceynte par tast de soen ventre et de ses mameles.] 13.. Cursor M. 542 (Cott.) Þis vnder wynd him gis his aand, Þe erth þe tast, to fele and faand. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 208 The taste is a commyn witte, Spraden throgh the body, but hit Shewyth hym most by the handys..; by that witte we knowen hote, colde, dry, moyste, and other Suche thynges. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxii. (1869) 42 At the taast, and at the sighte, at the smellinge, and at the sauouringe, bred and wyn it may seeme. |
† 2. a. A trying, testing; a trial, test, examination.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 131 Kynde witte cometh of alkynnes siȝtes,..of tastes of treuthe, and of deceytes. 1586–7 Queen Elizabeth in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 30 To make tast of the greatest witz amongs my owne, and then of French and last of you. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 47, I hope for my Brothers iustification, hee wrote this but as an essay, or taste of my Vertue. 1663 Flagellum, or O. Cromwell (1672) 155 To appoint a Tast or Recognition of the Government. |
† b. A trial, an attempt.
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5400 He wende haue taken þe toun in hast, Bot he failled of his tast. |
II. † 3. a. The act of tasting, or perceiving the flavour of a thing with the organ of taste (sense 4); the fact of being tasted.
Obs.| 13.. Coer de L. 3075 When he has a good tast, And eeten weel a good repast. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 357 Þere-of we taken a tast what time þat vs nedeþ. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 228 Tauerners ‘a tast for nouht’ tolden þe same. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 176 For before the tast of the Gospel I was worse then a beast. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. vi. 13 The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his owne deliciousnesse, And in the taste confoundes the appetite. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 2 The Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe. 1766 Entick London IV. 367 They obtained a grant of..the taste and assize of bread. |
b. transf. The means of tasting; hence, such a small quantity as admits of being tasted; a very small quantity (
esp. of alcoholic drink), a sip;
spec. (
U.S. slang), an alcoholic drink; alcohol.
| 1530 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 91 He sent for the tast of wyne..dew to him of every hoggshed. 15.. Aberdeen Reg. (Jam.), And send one taist of the wyne to the yerll of Rothes. 1723 S. Sewall Diary 4 Apr., My wife sent them a Taste of her Dinner. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxxviii, Bring me a taste of grog, will ye? 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. [from Scotl., Irel., N. Engl.]. 1919 E. O'Neill Rope in Moon of Caribbees 202 Will ye have a taste? It's real stuff. 1966 New Yorker 25 June 33 Why don't you stop up Wednesday, and we'll have a taste. 1973 T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 162, I view such terms as ‘pluck’ for wine and ‘taste’ for liquor as embodying an action element retained from its more conventional use as a verb. 1976 New Yorker 1 Mar. 84/2 He said, ‘Take me for a taste.’ We went into a bar, and I thought he'd settle down for a few, but he only had two shots. 1978 Maledicta 1977 I. 224 Had a complete and unabetting weakness for taste (liquor). |
c. fig. A slight experience, received or given; a slight show or sample
of any condition or quality.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 373 Whanne I beclippe hire on the wast, Yit ate leste I stele a tast. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 234 That is none other thynge but a taste how swete our lord Jesu is. 1586 Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) A ij b, Socrates in his cradle had no taste of his after-wise⁓dome. c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 40 Most of them havinge some little tast of the Spanish tounge. 1669 Penn No Cross xxi. §39 A soul Mortified to the World, and quickned to some Tasts of a Supernatural Life. 1825 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Superannuated Man, Where was..the promised rest? Before I had a taste of it, it was banished. 1897 A. Morrison Dorrington Deedbox i, My first taste of grouse-shooting was a complete success. |
d. a taste (
advb.):
colloq. to a small but perceptible degree; slightly; a little.
Cf. bit n.2 5.
| 1894 Hall Caine Manxman i. v, Aisy! Your legs a taste higher, sir, just to keep the pickle off your trousers. Ibid. iii. xii, ‘Nancy will tidy the room a taste’, she said coaxingly. |
4. a. The faculty or sense by which that particular quality of a thing described in 5 is discerned, the organs of which are situated chiefly in the mouth; one of the five bodily senses.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 87 Whan þer tast is freishe, for to juge þe goodnesse, and after whan þei ben drunken and þer taist failiþ, þanne he puttiþ wers wyn. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 537 Þanne haue y tynt all my tast touche and assaie! 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xx. (1495) d vj b/2, The taast is a wytte of knowynge sauours. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Horses (1627) 111 Sometimes a horse will loose his tast, which commeth of sorrow. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 166 Second childishnesse, and meere obliuion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans euery thing. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect., Germany (1685) 119 Fruits more pleasant to the sight or tast. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. i. 49 Taste is a species of touch of still more delicate character. 1884 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 620 Taste..is not equally distributed over the whole surface of the tongue alike. |
b. out of taste, not able to distinguish flavours.
| a 1541 Wyatt Sonnets xviii, And if I have, after such bitterness, One drop of sweet, my mouth is out of taste. 1646 W. Jenkyn Remora 20 The palat..is put out of taste. 1729 Swift Direct. Servants, Footman ¶28 Your mistress will confess that her mouth is out of taste. |
5. a. That quality or property of a body or substance which is perceived when it is brought into contact with certain organs of the mouth, etc.,
esp. the tongue; savour, sapidity; the particular sensation excited by anything in this manner.
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xlviii. 11 Therfore abod stille his tast in hym, and his smel is not chaungid. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 273 Full gode fissch..of right goode tast. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 15 Damysyns wiche withe her taste delyte. 1535 Coverdale Wisd. xvi. 2 A new & straunge taist. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 11 A far more liuely & penetratiue tast. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. v. 19 Diuers kindes of saltes..haue diuers tastes. 1702 J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 87 The acid Taste of this Recrement, and its coagulating of Milk, are undoubted. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 74 Iron..has a styptic taste, very sensible. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem. (1862) III. 161 Sometimes a wine acquires a peculiar flavour known as the ‘taste of the cask’. |
| fig. 14.. Hoccleve Compl. Virgin 213 Ther-in fynde I a bittir taast; For now the taast I feele & the streynynge Of deeth. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 176 How comfortable is the feeling and tast of grace. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. v. 9, I haue almost forgot the taste of Feares. 1720 Mrs. Manley Power of Love (1741) III. 187 All the Favours upon Earth, from the greatest Beauties could have no Taste for Roderigo. |
† b. Odour, scent, smell.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1668 Þat smelt is & smethe, smellis full swete, With taste for to touche the tabull aboute. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 850 Frankensence and olibanum That whan ye slepe the taste may come. |
c. In
fig. phr. a bad (or nasty) taste in the mouth and
varr., a lingering feeling of repugnance or disgust left behind by a distasteful or unpleasant experience.
| 1857 Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë II. viii. 186 They [sc. Balzac's novels] leave such a bad taste in my mouth. 1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. ii. xxv. 255 Never before have I heard such a speech... ‘Sort o' gives yer a nasty taste in the mouth,’ says Low Covey. 1904 Daily News 14 Dec. 5 The poems leave a nasty taste in the mouth; the taste of a snarl and a sneer. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 22 Apr. 18/1 A decidedly sour taste was left by the opening number. 1969 R. Harper World of Thriller ii. 71 When all the characters are corrupt or shoddy, the reader goes away with a bad taste in his mouth. 1979 R. Perry Bishop's Pawn iv. 70 It had taken me nearly an hour to go through the dossier and when I'd finished reading I had a nasty taste in my mouth. |
III. † 6. Mental perception of quality; judgement, discriminative faculty.
Obs. exc. as in 8.
| 13.. Cursor M. 11327 (Cott.) Þis symeon þat had his tast Toched o þe hali gast. a 1425 Ibid. 18889 (Trin.) Þe salmes seiþ bi good taast His wonynge shulde be wilde & waast. 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione i. xxii. 171 Thou hast no spirituall tast. 1692 Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 350 If so be they demand of me..more than discretion in Commerce, and a taste in Confidence. |
7. a. The fact or condition of liking or preferring something; inclination, liking
for;
† appreciation.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 72 Therfore wille thou..employ thy corage after the taste of our desires. 1552 Godly Prayers in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 253 That we..may have some taste and feeling for it in our hearts. ? c 1580 T. Hacket Treas. Amadis 236 She hath somewhat a regarde to things that are agaynst my owne taste. 1635 N. R. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. 153 From the time that I had any tast of Religion. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 93 ¶13 A Man that has a Taste of Musick, Painting, or Architecture. 1727 Pope, etc. Art of Sinking 73 The taste of the bathos is implanted by nature itself in the soul of man. 1728 Swift Intelligencer No. 3 ¶3 Whoever hath a taste for true humour. 1791 E. Inchbald Simp. Story III. v. 70 She had acquired a taste for those amusements. 1838 Lytton Alice i. ix, The other girl is more amusing, more to my taste. 1880 L. Stephen Pope iv. 86 Every opportunity for the indulgence of his favourite tastes. |
† b. Enjoyment, pleasure, ‘relish’. Const.
in,
of.
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 150 He found not in himselfe any disposition to goe to any other place, nor to take any taste in any thing. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 15 The Happiness of a Man's life consists not in the Abundance of the things that he possesses..But in the taste and relish that he has of them. |
c. transf. The object of one's liking or preference.
| 1739 G. Stone in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 392 White beauties..are the taste of the Irish nation. |
8. a. The sense of what is appropriate, harmonious, or beautiful;
esp. discernment and appreciation of the beautiful in nature or art;
spec. the faculty of perceiving and enjoying what is excellent in art, literature, and the like.
| 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 347 Sion's songs, to all true tasts excelling Where God is prais'd aright. 1694 Congreve Double Dealer i. ii, No, no, hang him, he has no Taste. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 409 ¶1 Rules..how we may acquire that fine Taste of Writing, which is so much talked of among the Polite World. 1768 W. Gilpin Ess. Prints 160 There is a fine taste in his landskips. 1776 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. Art (1778) 311, I have mentioned taste in dress, which is certainly one of the lowest subjects to which this word is applied. 1784 J. Barry in Lect. Paint. ii. (1848) 108 The word Taste, as applied to objects of vision,..means..that quick discerning faculty or power of the mind by which we accurately distinguish the good, bad, or indifferent. a 1834 Coleridge Treat. Method i. (1849) 16 A fine Musical taste is soon dissatisfied with the Harmonica, or any similar instrument of glass or steel. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 254 Taste is displayed both in the forms and grouping of the figures, and the disposition of the colours. 1850 W. Irving Goldsmith xxvii. 268 The latter part of the year 1768 had been made memorable in the world of taste by the institution of the Royal Academy of Arts. 1872 W. Minto Eng. Prose Lit. Introd. 29 The word taste..in its wider sense is equivalent to artistic sensibility,..in its narrower sense it may be expressed as artistic judgment. |
b. Style or manner exhibiting æsthetic discernment; good or bad æsthetic quality; the style or manner favoured in any age or country.
| 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 44 The People who design'd and executed London-Bridge, and other Bridges in the same Taste. 1755 Compl. Lett.-writer (1759) 227 Her own old-fashioned breast-plate in the taste of the last century. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxviii, A rich habit, which partook more of the Eastern taste than that of Europe. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xii, Nothing could be more moderate, or, as Miss Gusset said, ‘in better taste’. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain xxxvi. (Pelh. Libr.) 256 It was..built something in the Moorish taste. |
IV. 9. attrib. and
Comb., as
taste-area,
taste-centre,
taste-fibre,
taste-leader,
taste-maker,
taste-meter,
taste-organ;
taste-pleasing adj.;
taste-beaker,
-bulb,
-goblet, former names for the
taste-bud;
taste-blindness Biol. (see
quot. 1934); so
taste-blind a.;
taste-bud, a group of cells in the epithelium of the tongue etc., through which the faculty of taste operates; also
fig.;
taste-cell: see
quot.;
taste-corpuscle = taste-cell;
taste-cup,
-pit, one of the minute pits found on the epipharynx of an insect, having in the centre a peg, the termination of a nerve;
taste-hair, one of the setæ or bristles, near the mouth of an insect or other arthropod, supposed to be organs of taste;
† taste-paper, in the (old) Greats examination at Oxford, the paper in which passages were set from the classical authors for critical and exegetical treatment;
taste-test v. trans., to test (something) by tasting it, to test the taste of (something); also
absol.; so
taste-tested a.;
taste-tester.
| 1901 E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. I. iv. 64 Each papilla carries a number of *taste-beakers, clusters of taste⁓cells and supporting cells, which constitute the specific end-organs of taste. |
| 1934 Jrnl. Heredity XXV. 189/2 There is less likelihood of finding a group entirely *taste blind. 1975 Nature 6 Feb. 442/1 The designation ‘tasters’ for the more sensitive individual and ‘non-tasters’ or ‘taste blind’ for the less sensitive. |
| 1934 Jrnl. Heredity XXV. 190/1 *Taste blindness is an inherited inability to taste certain thiocarbamides as crystals or in cold diluted solutions as bitter. 1965 M. A. Amerine et al. Princ. Sensory Evaluation Food ii. 112 Based on studies of families and twins, ‘taste blindness’ was first reported to be a simple recessive character. |
| 1879 J. Fulton Text Bk. Physiol. (ed. 2) xiv. 365 Peculiar structures, known as *taste buds, or taste goblets, have been discovered in the circumvallate papillæ. 1951 V. Nabokov Speak, Memory ii. 30 It is..to the lowly and ugly agarics, that nations with timorous taste-buds limit their knowledge and appetite. 1963 Listener 3 Jan. 40/1 Vested interests and pressure-groups work upon everything from our political opinions to our taste-buds. 1970 T. S. & C. R. Leeson Histology (ed. 2) xiv. 274/2 A few taste buds are found also in the palate and epiglottis. |
| 1883 Science I. 232/2 The *taste-bulbs, numbering 700 or more, lying in the papillary wall of the valla. 1888 J. G. M'Kendrick in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 79/2 The terminal organs of taste consist of peculiar bodies named taste-bulbs or taste-goblets. |
| 1890 Billings Nat. Med. Dict. s.v. Taste, *Taste-cells, spindle-shaped or staff-shaped cells in the interior of the taste-bulbs. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Taste-center, the gustatory nervous center, located by Ferrier in the gyrus uncinatus of the brain. |
| 1898 Packard Text-bk. Entomol. 45 The structure and armature of the epipharyngeal surface even besides the *taste-pits, *taste-cups, and rods, is very varied. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 793 Whether the *taste-fibres pass by the second or third divisions of the nerve. |
| 1879 *Taste-goblet [see taste-bud]. |
| 1905 Jrnl. R. Micros. Soc. Apr. 180 *Taste-hairs, homologous with Kræpelin's taste-hairs in Muscidæ, are found in various orders of insects. |
| 1952 D. Riesman Individualism Reconsidered (1954) 207 The problem..of becoming a possible *taste-leader. |
| 1961 New Left Rev. Jan.–Feb. 34/2 These areas of work are excluded, by the *tastemakers, from the concept of ‘serious’ art. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 725/2 Federigo's artistic patronage did prove a tastemaker, though of a limited kind. |
| 1814 Coleridge in Cottle Remin. (1837) II. 211 This *taste⁓meter to the fashionable world, gives a ludicrous portrait of an African belle. |
| 1927 Haldane & Huxley Animal Biol. i. 25 A number of very small *taste-organs are scattered over certain parts of the tongue [of the frog]. 1970 G. Ordish tr. Chauvin's World of Ants vii. 175 The taste organ is situated in the antennae. |
| 1860 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxiv, In the *taste paper.., as they compare notes, he seems to have almost struck the bull's eye in his answers. 1898 *Taste-pit [see taste-cup]. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1622) 8 A place cunningly set with trees of the most *tast-pleasing fruits. |
| 1979 Wichita (Kansas) Eagle 23 May 1-b/4 If you've never cooked with fresh ginger..*taste-test before adding more. 1980 D. Williams Murder for Treasure xx. 198 He found himself staring into the eyes of a gargantuan dog whose giant tongue was taste-testing his chin. |
| 1960 Time (Atlantic ed.) 11 Apr. 58 Critically *taste-tested piles of free cigarettes. |
| 1969 Listener 24 July 127/3 Game would be virtually tasteless if *taste-testers succeeded in eliminating all its off-flavours. |
▪ II. taste, n.2 U.S. local.
(
teɪst)
[Origin unascertained.] A kind of narrow thin silk ribbon used for edge-binding: now commonly called taffeta-binding. See also wire-
taste.
| 1847 in Webster. a 1889 F. A. P. Barnard in New Haven (Conn.) Palladium 18 Apr., If..Mrs. S. has any taste she will oblige me by sending me half a yard, no matter of what color, so it be not black. |
▪ III. taste, v. (
teɪst)
Forms: 3–5
tasten, (3
tasti, 4
tasty,
taaste, 4–6
taast, 4–8
tast, 4–7
taist, 6
Sc. test, 7
teast), 4–
taste.
[ME. tasten, a. OF. tast-er to touch, feel (12th c.), in 13–14th c. also to taste, mod.F. tâter to feel, touch, try, taste, = Pr., OSp. tastar, It. tastare to feel, handle, touch, grope for, try (Florio):—Com. Romanic or late pop.L. *tastare, app. from *taxtāre:—*taxitāre, freq. of taxāre to touch, feel, handle (Gellius, etc.): see tax v.] I. Of touch, feeling, or experience generally.
† 1. trans. To try, examine, or explore by touch; to feel; to handle.
Obs.| c 1290 St. Michael 312 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 308 With þat finguer he wole hit tasti ȝif it is a-riȝt i-wrouȝt. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9011 He tasted his pous,..He seide he knew his medycyn. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 1401 Leches..That gun to tasty his wounde. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 315 This noble clerk, with alle haste Began the veines forto taste. 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. x. vii, She toke hardynes for the derknes, and tasted the waye on the ryght side & lyft. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxxviii. 115 The men of armes entre into the dykes,..and tasted the dyke with their speares, and passed ouer to the fote of the wall. 1648 Crashaw Delights Muses, Music's Duel 112 With a quiv'ring coynesse tasts the strings. |
† b. intr. To feel, touch; to grope.
Obs.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 147 Þe fyngres..Bitokneth sothly þe sone..Þat toched and tasted atte techynge of þe paume. c 1450 Merlin xxxiii. 681 She be-gan to taste softly till he fill on slepe. 1481 Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 27 Isegrym..crope a lityl in, and tasted here and there, and at laste he sayde..what I seche I fynde not. 1483 ― G. de la Tour F ij b, He tasted aboute & founde well that the dede was trewe. |
† c. trans. To come into contact with, to touch.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 18 Such as haue the Scuruy..so soone as they taste the shore..eat three-leafed-grasse. |
† 2. trans. To put to the proof; to try, test.
Obs.| 13.. Cursor M. 12934 (Gött.) Þe warlou wili..wold him tast wid sin, To witt if he had part him in. c 1450 Lovelich Grail lii. 603 He lyht Adown..and tasted his harneis In that stede, þat it scholde not faille whanne he hadd nede. 1585–6 Sir T. Sherley in Leycester Corr. (Camden) 174, I thowght to tast her affectyon unto your lordship. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxi. 211 And he now began To taste the bow. 1670 Cotton Espernon ii. v. 206 Him he first tasted by Lafin, the same who had made himself a Mediator betwixt the Duke of Espernon and l'Esdiguieres in Provence. |
b. spec.: see
quots.| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 164 Tasting of Plank or Timber, chipping of it with an Addice to try the Defects. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 155 Tasting of plank or timber, chipping it with an adze, or boring it with a small augur, for the purpose of ascertaining its quality. |
† c. To attempt, try
to do something.
Obs. rare.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13834 On many manere ilk oþer tasted Ilk oþer to slo, ilk oþer to wounde. c 1450 Merlin xxxii. 649 He caste a-wey his clubbe and tasted to chacche the kynge in his armes. |
3. fig. To have experience or knowledge of; to experience, feel; to have a slight experience of.
Often (in later use
perh. always)
fig. from 4.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18940 Als gaf to þaim þe haligast Alkin wiit to tuche and tast. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 126 He shal not taaste þe longe deþ. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 35 In ciuil commotions all thinges are miserable:..this our present age also hath oftentimes tasted. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 138 [The Gaules] who from Caesars time till then, had not tasted the force of a forren power. 1693 Humours Town A ij b, You have tasted the Pleasures of the Town. 1717 Ockley in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 353, I enjoy more repose here than I have tasted these many years. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. iv. 207 John Knox, who was just returned from tasting the tender mercies of France as a galley-slave. |
† b. To have carnal knowledge of.
Obs.| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. ii. iv. 57 If you can mak't apparant That you have tasted her in Bed; my hand, And Ring is yours. a 1639 T. Carew Poems (1651) 32 So shalt thou be despis'd, fair Maid, When by the sated lover tasted. 1752 Young Brothers iv. i, What, see, talk, touch, nay taste her! |
II. Of the special sense that resides in the tongue and palate.
4. trans. To perceive by the sense of taste; to perceive or experience the taste or flavour of.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 952 In menskinge of mouþ mirþe we hauen, In tendere touchinge of þing, & tastinge of swete. c 1375 Cursor M. 23456 (Fairf.) In þis werlde has men liking..squete spiceri to tast [Cott. fell] & smelle. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 14 Wellys most holsom of savour, For to be tasted of every governour. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 487/1 Taastyn, gusto. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xix. 35 This daye am I foure score yeare olde. How shulde I..taist what I eate or drynke? 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 30 When it did tast the Worme-wood. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 242 When once it has tasted human flesh, it never desists from haunting those places where it expects the return of its prey. 1909 Daily Chron. 17 Nov. 8/4 She said the smells were so bad that they could be tasted as well as smelt. |
† b. fig. To perceive or recognize as by the sense of taste.
Obs.| 1583 Babington Commandm. i. 10 Euen a world it is to see how all, as dead, doo tast no sinne in it. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ¶viij b, Three syllabled wordes..which who mislike, may tast lamp oyle with their eares. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass i. vi, Nay, then I taste a Trick in 't. |
c. absol. or intr. To experience or distinguish flavours; to have or exercise the sense of taste.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 181 Þey..mowe noþer see ne hire, ne taste, ne smelle. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxi. 18 No wit salbe degest, To heir, se, smell, nor test. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 98 O, you are sicke of selfe-loue, Maluolio, and taste with a distemper'd appetite. Mod. I have got a very bad cold, and can neither taste nor smell. |
5. transf. (
trans.) To perceive by some other sense,
esp. smell. Now only
poet. or
dial.| 1656 Earl of Monmouth Advt. fr. Parnass. 380 Would you have men taste the odoriferousness of those Aromaticks which you..have brought from the Indies? 1674 Ray N.C. Words, To Tast; i.e. to smell in the North. 1796 Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.), Taste, to smell, in the North. See Ray. You commonly ask a person to taste your snuff. 1819 Keats Isabella ix, I must taste the blossoms that unfold In its ripe warmth this gracious morning time. 1844 Kinglake Eöthen ii. (1878) 25 To taste the cold breath of the earliest morn. |
6. To try the flavour or quality of by the sense of taste; to put a small quantity of (something) into the mouth in order to ascertain the flavour, etc.;
spec. to test the quality of by tasting, for trade purposes. Also
absol.| a 1300 Cursor M. 13403 (Cott.) Þai fild a cupp þan son in hast, And gaf it þe architricline to tast. Ibid. 16773 (Gött.) Þat bitter drinc..He tasted it, bot noght he dranc. 1388 Wyclif Rom. xi. 16 If a litil part of that that is tastid be hooli, the hool gobet is hooli. 1535 Coverdale Job xxxiv. 3 For like as the mouth tasteth [1382 Wyclif bi tast demeth] the meates, so the eare proueth & discerneth the wordes. 1552 Huloet, Taste afore or fyrste, prolibo. 1604 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 435 The ale teaster to teast the ale before they sell it. 1769 Cook Voy. round World i. iii. (1773) 44 Having tasted the liquor, they returned it, with strong expressions of disgust. 1837 Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades (1842) 441 This system of tasting constitutes the acme of the great Teaman's trade. |
b. intr. with
of: see 12 a.
c. spec. (
trans.) To test or certify the wholesomeness of (food provided) by tasting it; also
absol. to act as taster
to a person. Also
fig.| 1595 Shakes. John v. vi. 28 How did he take it [poison]? Who did taste to him? 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 32 He [the emperor] is tasted vnto, not before, but after he hath eaten and drunke. 1678 Dryden All for Love i. i. 15 Thou and I, Like Time and Death, marching before our Troops, May taste fate to e'm; Mowe e'm out a passage. 1682 Southerne Loyal Brother i. i, True, I make bold To taste their letters to 'em, as they pass Through my Employment. |
d. fig. To make trial of as by the sense of taste; to try the quality of. Also with
obj. clause, and
absol. or intr. Cf. sense 2.
| 1382 Wyclif Ps. xxxiii. 9 [xxxiv. 8] Tastith, and seeth, for sweete is the Lord. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 395 Mi fader, nay; bot I have tasted In many a place as I have go, And yit love I nevere on of tho. 1597 Morley Introd. Musicke Annot., Who hath tasted the firste elements of musicke. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii, Then come home, And taste a piece of Terence. 1819 Keats Isabella xlix, O turn thee to the very tale, And taste the music of that vision pale. 1896 Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 294 She waited breathlessly to taste the quality of her mercy. |
7. To have or take a taste of (food or drink); to take only as much as is sufficient to try or perceive the taste of, to eat or drink a little; but often by meiosis, simply for ‘eat’ or ‘drink’. Negatively,
not to taste = not even to taste, not to eat or drink at all. Also
fig. to get a ‘taste’ of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12559 (Cott.) Noþer durst þai drinc ne ete, Ne brek þair brede, ne tast þair mes Til he war cummen til þair des. 1382 Wyclif Luke xiv. 24, I seie to ȝou, for noone of tho men that ben clepid, schal taaste my souper. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 69 Of mony things we sal taist a few as we may. 1624 Quarles Job xi. Medit. 35 Wisdom digests, what knowledge did but tast. 1653 Walton Angler i. 2, I often..taste a cup of Ale there. 1700 J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo I. 31 It will suffice therefore for a Prince to tast the Arts and Sciences. 1754 Gray Pleasure 60 She eyes the clear crystalline well [of Pleasure], And tastes it as it goes. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia x, He had tasted no food since noon the day before. |
b. absol. or intr. ellipt. for ‘taste wine or alcoholic drink’; to take a little drink.
Sc.| 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize v. (E.D.D.), He pressed my grandfather to taste. 1901 S. Macnaughton Fortune of Chr. M‘Nab ii, ‘Thank you’, said Christina, ‘I do not taste’. Mod. Sc. Will you not taste? Do you never taste? |
8. To like the taste of (usually
fig.); to relish, approve of, enjoy, like, take pleasure in; in earlier use sometimes in neutral sense: to appreciate. Now
arch. or
dial.| 1605 Earl of Salisbury in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 81 This [proposal] was at first but little tasted by them. a 1617 Bayne On Eph. i. (1634) 244 Many..taste their pottage, like Esau, better than their birthright. 1624 Bedell Lett. iv. 81 A more sensible proofe how the Pope tastes these Titles. 1751 Chatham Lett. Nephew ii. 6, I hope you love and taste those authors [Homer and Vergil] particularly. 1768 Earl Hardwicke Let. 17 May, The king seemed to taste the Duke of Grafton, and commended his parts. 1791 Boswell Johnson 2 Apr. an. 1775, If I wondered at Johnson not tasting the works of Mason and Gray, still more have I wondered at their not tasting his works. 1805 Mrs. R. Trench in Rem. (1862) 170 Mad. de Sévigné, whom for the first time I really taste and admire. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such i. 10 The work..I am told is much tasted in a Cherokee translation. 1896 ‘Ian Maclaren’ Kate Carnegie 33 The story was much tasted by our guard's admirers. |
9. intr. Of a substance: To have a taste of a specified or implied kind; to produce a certain taste in the mouth; to have a taste or flavour
of.
| 1552 Huloet, Tastyng or castynge an yll taste or sauoure, virosus. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 66 Blacke as soote and tasting not much unlike it. 1653 Walton Angler iii. 73 It looks well, and tastes well. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. ii. §11 This new Wine, put into old Vessels, did in after-Ages taste of the Caske. 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xxxix. §1 (1689) 253 It will make him to tast very sour. 1729 Swift Direct. Servants, Cook ¶26 If your butter tastes of brass, it is your master's fault. 1871 Calverley Proverb. Philos. in Verses & Transl. (ed. 4) 95 Let him drink deeply.., nor grumble if it tasteth of the cork. Mod. The milk has begun to turn; it tastes rather sour. |
b. fig. To produce a particular effect upon the mind or feelings; to partake of the nature, character, or quality
of; to savour
of.
| 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 5 All other artes (whiche taste of the Mathematicalles). c 1575 J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew (1857) 19 His behaviour tasting after the French manner. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 89 How tasts it? Is it bitter? 1621 Sanderson Serm. I. 179 This ungodly king Ahab; see how all that come of him, taste of him. 1840 Clough Dipsychus Poems (1892) 109 The place, the air Tastes of the nearer north. |
† c. trans. To savour of.
Sc. Obs.| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. x. 417 Ony thing..of him said that taisted not Ill talk, haitred, and Invie. |
† 10. To cause a pleasant taste in (the mouth); to affect (the palate) agreeably; hence
fig. to please, suit, be agreeable to. (
Orig. intr. with dative
obj.; in
quot. 1672 with
to.)
Obs.| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1622) 352 Bitter griefs tastes mee best, pain is my ease. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. viii. 383 When wholesome foode would not tast their mouths, they devised sweet meates to realish their pallats. 1631 ― Maid of West iii. Wks. 1874 II. 299 Call for what wine best tasts you. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 184 Nothing less will taste to your palate. |
11. To impart a taste or flavour to; to flavour; also
fig. Now
rare.
| a 1577 Gascoigne Flowers Wks. (1587) 40 A salad or a sauce, to tast your cates withall. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. iv, We will have a bunch of radish and salt to taste our wine. 1904 J. Wells J. H. Wilson xxi. 293 All his teachings were coloured and tasted by the channel through which they ran. |
12. taste of, a construction used in several senses, sometimes simply
= taste, sometimes
= take a taste of, eat or drink a little of. So
taste on (now
dial.),
† taste to (
obs.).
In some cases, as in
quots. 1526 in b and c, perhaps a literalism of translation (not found in the Vulgate, Wyclif, or Rhemish
N.T.); but see
of 29 a, and
cf. take a taste of.
a. To make trial of by tasting, to try the taste of;
= 6. Also
fig. arch.| a 1400–50 Alexander 2074 Þan pullis him vp þe proude kyng & on þe pepire tastis. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 11 The bee goth and tasteth of many fair floures. c 1550 Cheke Matt. xxvii. 34 When he had taasted on it [Tindale therof], he wold not drink. 1604–63 Inscr. on Ch. Bells in North Ch. Bells Linc. (1882), I sweetly toling men do call to taste on meats that feeds the soule. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. II. 196 We tasted of this bread: it was dry, but not unpleasant. 1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 154, I taste of every thing, I depend on nothing. |
b. To eat or drink only a little of; with negative, not to eat or drink at all;
= 7. Also
fig.| 13.. K. Alis. 5070 (Bodl. MS.) The kyng..forbed..Þat non ne shulde..Of þe water drynk ne taste. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6427 The tydis not to taste of þis triet meite. 1526 Tindale Luke xiv. 24 None of those men which were bidden shall tast of my supper [µου τοῦ δείπνου]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 79, I craue..that we may Taste of your Wine. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 19 Asses are subject to madness when they have tasted to certain herbs growing neer Potnias. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 651 Of this Tree we may not taste nor touch. 1699 Dryden Epist. to J. Dryden 61 For age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours. 1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. I. ii. 232 They had but tasted of the words..of the gentlemen. |
c. To have experience or knowledge of; to feel, experience;
= 3.
| 1526 Tindale Matt. xvi. 28 Some there be a monge them that here stonde, whych shall nott taste of deeth [οὐ µὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου], tyll they shall [etc.]. 1552 Latimer Serm. 4th Sund. Epiph. (1584) 315 b, He himself hath tasted of al trouble. a 1562 G. Cavendish Metr. Vis., Earl of Essex vi, I ame tastyng on the payn. 1599 Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. ii, So contentedly, You cannot think unless you tasted on't. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 476 Hope here to taste Of pleasure. 1742 Gray Adversity 6 The Proud are taught to taste of pain. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland v. 75 Wherever the population had tasted of oppression. |
† d. = 3 b.
Obs.| 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii, I do embrace this season for the fittest To tast of that yong Lady. |
e. See 9, 9 b.