▪ I. savour, savor, n.
(ˈseɪvə(r))
Forms: 3–5 savur, 4 safour, safer, sauvur, savoyre, Sc. sawure, -oure, -or, -eoure, 4–5 savore, 4–6 savoure, saver, 5 saveure, saveoure, savowre, savyr, Sc. sawour, 5–6 savir, 6 savre, savour, savyour, savar, sawr-, 7 saviour, 8 Sc. sa'r, 4– savour, savor.
[a. OF. savur, savour (mod.F. saveur) = Pr., Sp., Pg. sabor, It. savore:—L. sapōrem taste, savour (see sapor), f. sapĕre to taste.]
1. Quality in relation to the sense of taste; a specific mode of this quality, as sweetness, bitterness, etc.; a taste. Also in fig. context.
Now rare, exc. as denoting a touch or admixture of some taste other than the proper or prevailing taste of a substance, a ‘smack’.
a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 Þes cos, leoue sustren, is a swetnesse & a delit of heorte, so unimete swote & swete, þet euerich worldes sauur is bitter þer aȝeines. a 1300 Cursor M. 13404 He dranc and feild gode sauur. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9988 Hit semeþ brede, as be syȝt, And as brede, sauer haþ ryȝt. c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 686 Ne lef non oþer, crysteman, For safour ne coloure. For þat colour, ne þat sauour Ne beþ nauȝt þer inne cryste. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 995 For his make was myst, þat on þe mount lenged In a stonen statue þat salt sauor habbes. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 187 Þe larke..is loueloker of Iydene, And swettur of sauour. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 208 By the tonge we felen the dyuersite of Sauores, Swetnes and bittyrnesse, Saltnesse and egyrnesse, and other Saueoure. a 1510 Douglas K. Hart i. 420 Servit thai war of mony dyuerss meis, Full sawris sweit. 1587 Golding De Mornay i. (1617) 7 Sounds, Sents, Savors, and Feelings. 1600 Surflet Country Farm iii. xlix. 533 Cyders differ one from another, especially in colour and sauour or relish. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 342 Meats of noblest sort And savour. 1725 Pope Odyss. xv. 155 Viands of various kinds allure the taste Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast! 1774 tr. Chesterf. Let. to Son (8 June 1741), [The waters] are very heating, and disagreeable to the taste, having the savour of rotten eggs. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. I. 233 Qualities of body; namely,—colour, savour, odour, feel [etc.]. |
b. The power of affecting the sense of taste, esp. agreeably; sapidity, tastiness.
c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 65 Ther wyne had nowder colour nor savor. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour m iv b, They ete black brede and metes of lytyll sauoure. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xiii, I see auld fruit has little savour—our suffering and our services have been of an ancient date. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 12 The lads felt that when no more tales could be told of the king of Maremma, savour would be gone out of the goatsflesh roasted in the charcoal in the woods. |
† c. Flavouring, spice. Obs.
1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 187 Lette hungyre yeue the talent, and not Sause ne Saueure. |
2. A smell, perfume, aroma. poet. and arch.
[So occas. L. sapor and the verb sapĕre (Pliny). Some traces of this use occur in OF., though it seems to have been rare; in mod.Fr. it is entirely unknown.]
a 1300 Cursor M. 1381 And cipres, be þe suete sauur, Bi⁓takens ur suete sauueur. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11567 She broȝt a smel of grete sauour. 1382 Wyclif John xii. 3 The hous is fillid of the sauour of oygnement. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 6027 The boydies that ther ded lay, That hadde be sclayn In fight that day; Ther come of hem a foul sauour. c 1450 Myrc Festial 142 Þus as þe flesche rostyd, þe sauer þerof went out into þe strete. 1481 Caxton Myrrour ii. vi. 75 [The panther] gyueth oute of his mouth so swete a savour and smell, that anon the bestes that fele it seche hym. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 8 Throw the sauar sanatiue of the sueit flouris. a 1593 Marlowe Edw. II, v. v, I was almost stifeled with the sauour. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §88. 349 Plagues oft arise..from noisome savours. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 88 Then Melfoil beat, and Honey-suckles pound, With these alluring Savours strew the Ground. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. xxii, For the sweet savour of the roasted meat Tempted him though immortal. 1871 Farrar Days of my Youth ii. (1876) 20 Like a sweet savour, like a precious heritage, it lingers here. |
b. in figurative context.
a 1225 St. Marher. 4 He is leoflukest lif for to lokin uppon, and swotest to smeallen; ne his swote sauur, ne his almihte mihte..ne mei neauer littlin ne aliggen. c 1502 Joseph Arim. (E.E.T.S.) 51 Heyle, tresour of Glastenbury moost imperyall, In sauour smellynge swete as eglantyne. |
c. In the translations of the Bible from Tindale (1526) onwards, savour occurs very freq. as rendering of Gr. ὀσµή, Heb. rē{supa}ḥ smell; in the Old Testament lit. of the smell of sacrifices and incense regarded as pleasing to God, in the N.T. fig. chiefly with reference to spiritual sacrifices.
See, e.g., Gen. viii. 21, Num. xxviii. 13, Ezek. vi. 13, 2 Cor. ii. 15, Eph. v. 2.
d. Used fig. for: Repute, estimation; = odour 4 b. Now only poet.
1535 Coverdale Exod. v. 21 Ye have made the sauoure of us to stynke before Pharao. 1639 Fuller Holy War ii. xv. (1640) 64 Since which time the bad sauour of his life came to the Popes nose, who sent a Legate to depose him. 1726 W. Penn in Life Wks. (1782) I. 53 These several Things agreed upon, being of good Savour and Report. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 377 Then came in hall the messenger of Mark, A name of evil savour in the land, The Cornish king. |
3. In various uses, originally fig. from sense 1. † a. Attractive quality, merit, value. Obs.
a 1225 Ancr. R. 138 Salt bitocneð wisdom; vor salt ȝiueð mete wordnesse & wisdom ȝifð sauur. 13.. K. Alis. 2839 (Bodl. MS.) Tofore þe kyng com on harpoure And made a lay of gret sauoure. c 1320 Cast. Love 72 Þauh hit on Englisch be dim and derk, Ne nabbe no sauer bi-fore a clerk. 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 220 b, She had sothly the bame of good odour and sauoure in conuersacion. |
† b. Character, style, sort. Obs.
1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 258 This admiration Sir, is much o' th' savour Of other your new prankes. 1639 Rouse Heav. Univ. x. (1702) 153 Let the excellent and unmatchable ointments of Christ Jesus give an excellent savour to your works. |
c. Essential virtue or property: with allusion to Matt. v. 13 (and Luke xiv. 34). Also, power to excite relish, interest.
1650 I. Weekes Truth's Confl. i. 11 This is to put a non⁓sense upon the place, and to destroy the savor that is in it. 1850 Marsden Early Purit. (1853) 334 Principles which are permitted to lie barren soon lose their savour. 1885 Pattison Mem. 298 All the savour of life is departed. |
d. A ‘smack’, tinge, or admixture.
1795 Burns ‘O ay my wife’ 5 Some sa'r o' comfort still at last, When a' my days are done, man. 1867 Macfarren Harmony ii. 66 Practised by modern musicians when they wish to give an antique savour to any particular passage. |
† 4. Relish or taste for something; delight, satisfaction. to catch (a) savour: to acquire a taste or liking. Obs.
a 1225 Ancr. R. 232 We ne iuindeð swetnesse in none þinge þet we wel doð, ne sauur of heorte. 13.. Coer de L. 3047 To mete hadde he no savour To wyn, ne watyr, ne no lycour. ? c 1400 Lydg. æsop's Fab. Prol. 2 Wysdom is more of pris than gold in cofres To theym, that have savour in lettrure. Ibid. i. 65 Losengeours..Whiche have savour in slewth and sluggardy. Ibid. ii. 101 When a iorrour haþe caught sauour ones To be forsworn, custom makeþ hym strong. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 393 Hast þou in me ony gretter sauour Þan þat þou haddest first whan þou me sy. c 1430–40 Abbey of Holy Ghost in Horstm. Hampole I. 333 Plente of oyle, þat es for to hafe delyte and sauoyre in god. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour m iv, Good wynes, whereto the good heremyte tooke soo good a sauoure that he had..dranke soo moche, that he was dronke. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle of Facions ii. iv. 140 When they had caughte a sauour in this holye daye loytering,..thei made a longe holy daye also of the whole seuenth yere. |
† 5. Perception, understanding. Obs.
1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iv. (Skeat) 79 Of this have I yet no savour, without better declaration. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. 1–6 Christ..of whome they had a certayne sauour and vnderstandyng. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Dialogue iii, But as I can see no merit, Leading to this favour: So the way to fit me for it, Is beyond my savour. |
▪ II. savour, savor, v.
(ˈseɪvə(r))
Forms: 3 savur(e, 4 savir, savyre, safer, 4–5 savere, 4–6 saver, savoure, 5 savre, savyr, 4– savor, savour: Sc. 4 sawer, 5 sawour, 6 sair-, sawr-, 8 sar, sa'r.
[a. OF. savourer, savorer (mod.F. savourer) = Pr. saborar, Sp., Pg. saborear, It. † savorare (now in learned form saporare):—late L. sapōrāre, f. sapōr- savour n.]
I. To have a savour.
† 1. intr. Of food or drink: To taste (well or ill); chiefly, to have an agreeable taste. Often with dat.; hence trans. to be agreeable to the taste of. Obs.
a 1300 Cursor M. 3647, I sal þam dight til his be-houe, A mete als he was wonto loue; It sal him sauur al to will, Ete he sal þer-of his fill. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 249 Ete not, Ich hote þe til hunger þe take, And sende þe sum of his sauce to sauer þe þe betere. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶48 For soothly, there is no thyng that sauoureth so wel to a child as the Milk of his Norice. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 17 Þer was noo licoure that savoured his mowthe or that he myȝhte discerne in that hit made his chekes colde. 1530 Palsgr. 698/2 This potage savoureth, whiche we use whan the meate is sodden to the pottes bottome. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 129 In the fourth day, to sprinckle your seedes with water,..for by that meanes (saith he) they will sauour much better. 1634 G. Herbert tr. Cornarus' Treat. Temperance 8 That Proverb, wherewith Gluttons use to defend themselves, to wit, That which savours, is good and nourisheth. 1686 W. Harris tr. Lemery's Course Chem. 119 Water..that's heated or boil'd in a Copper vessel for a whole day together, savours not at all, or not so much, of the Copper. |
† b. fig.
c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxix. 109 To whom þou sauorist, what shal not sauore him ariȝt? and to whom þou sauorist not, what þinge may turne him to mirþe? [L. cui tu sapis... Et cui tu non sapis.] 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 8 Syth the mater is all spirituall, it shall but lytell sauour or please the taste of them that be carnall. |
2. intr. To give forth a (specified) scent or odour; to smell of something. arch.
13.. Cursor M. 6368 (Gött.) Þa wandis..euer þai held lijf and flour, Sauirand wid a suete sauur. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1396 As a medue hyt was grene,..And saueryd swete as spycerye. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 275 Þer in saym & in sorȝe þat sauoured as helle, Þer was bylded his bour. c 1450 Myrc Festial 50 For þer nys no brent sence þat sauereth so swete yn mannys nase, as doþe a deuote oreson yn Goddys nase. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 34 ‘Fy’, quod the Feynd, ‘Thow sairis of blek, Go clenge the clene and cum to me’. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 184 Was dulcet & swete to y⊇ mouth..& sauoured wele to the nose. 1549 Latimer Ploughers (Arb.) 18 As the saffrone bagge..doth euer after sauoure and smel of the swete saffron that it conteyned. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 111 Parthenium..bringeth forth a white floure, sauouring like an apple, and having a bitter tast. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Parad. III. iv. 218 The spilt blood savoured horribly. |
† b. Without qualifying word: To smell offensively, stink. Obs.
1536 Primer Eng. & Lat. 121 b, Whan he [sc. Lazarus] in the same foure dayes had lyen So that hys body beganne to sauoure. a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 348 Like the snuffe of a candle, which all men looked upon even now when it shined, and now it so savours, that they tread it under foot. |
3. fig. † a. To be agreeable or pleasing. Const. to or dat.. Obs. b. With qualification: To be well or ill pleasing. arch.
a 1300 Cursor M. 25885 ‘Man’, he sais, ‘quin cuth þow fele Hu pine o þis lijf sauure wele’. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 102 But ȝit sauereþ me nat þi siggynge. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 4 That lyke it [the service] goyth dayle as throughe your mouthes so let yt synke & sauoure contynually in youre hartes. a 1609 Sir F. Vere Comm. (1657) 94 This advise could not savour to that young Nobleman. a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 275 All the sermon of that daie..was of this and such other like stuffe, as not pleasinge or sauoringe unto Christian eares. 1668 Howe Bless. Righteous (1825) 78 Nothing savours with me; I take comfort in nothing. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin xxiv, What is loathsome to the young Savours well to thee and me. |
4. a. to savour of: to show traces of the presence or influence of; to have some of the characteristics of; to have the appearance of proceeding from.
1548 Cranmer Catech. Ep. Ded., [We] sauer longest of that thynge that we fyrste receaue and taist of. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccles. Hist. 110 The phrase of that epistle sauoreth very muche of the Greeke tongue. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. To Rdr. A 1, The Idle Humerous world must heare of nothing that..sauors of Antiquity. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iii. 9 The matter of that Epistle savoureth of the purer times of the Church. 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. *A 2, I have written nothing which savours of Immorality or Profaneness. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets i. 120 Your courtship sars sae rankly O' selfish interest. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones i. x, Such solicitations from superiors too often savour strongly of commands. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 234 But the institutions savour of superstition in their very principle. 1870 J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. viii. 332 Cromwell, whose actions savoured of the boldest logic, was a confused speaker. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent of Man 47 A spectacular act..savours of the magician. |
b. trans. in the same sense.
1574 Whitgift Def. Answ. ii. 109 For it neyther savoureth the spirite of God, neither yet any modest and good nature, but [etc.]. a 1634 Randolph Muses Looking-gl. iii. iii. (1638) 53 Would thou wert worth the killing. Colax. A good wish, Savouring as well discretion, as bold valour. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1043 Wilful barrenness, That..savours onely Rancor and pride. 1906 Athenæum 23 June 758/2 ‘One ail for thee and me’, instead of ‘wail’; ‘went by her like their flames’, instead of ‘thin flames’—these savour the printer. |
II. To give a savour to.
† 5. trans. To flavour with salt or spice. Obs.
13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 825 Þenne ho sauerez with salt her seuez vchone. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 243 Flesche i-savered i-not by what vertu of herbes. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 75 Kyddes & lambres, & kalffes isaveryde with agresta. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 494 Yf hit be not sauered worth a flie, Olyues grene ygrounde in hit let stie. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 192 Powderit with prymross, sawrand all with clowiss. 1693 R. Lyde Retaking ‘Friend's Adventure’ 9 Beef without any Salt to savour it. |
† 6. To impart a taste or flavour to. Obs. rare—1.
1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9986 Þarfore hys wysdom, hys owne rede, Sauerþ hyt [Christ's flesh] yn wyne and brede. |
7. To season, flavour; to give tone or character to.
1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 44 These old huddles, hauing ouercharged their gorges with fancie, accompt al honest recreation meere folly, and hauing taken a surfet of delight, seeme now to sauour it with despight. 1889 J. Jacobs æsop's Fables i. 196 He..has left out..that pinch of humour that has savoured the fabulist. |
8. To impart a savour or scent to.
1832 H. Martineau Ireland ii. 28 On many a petition, savoured with a scent of potheen, did he turn his back. |
III. To perceive a savour.
9. trans. To taste, to perceive by the sense of taste. In mod. use, to taste with relish, to dwell on the taste of; also fig., to give oneself to the enjoyment or appreciation of.
c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. cxxix. (1869) 125 And j shulde neuere be at ese if j sauowrede swete thing. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lvi. 373 (Add. MS.) When he sauours the soure barke with oute for bitternesse he leuyth the swete kyrnelle with in. 1865 Pall Mall G. 17 June 11/1 We savour at our leisure the delicate satire which we were too excited to appreciate duly. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. xi. 1762 Deal each judge His dole of flattery and feigning,—why, He turns and tries and snuffs and savours it As an old fly the sugar-grain. 1883 ‘Holme Lee’ Loving & Serving I. iii. 42 He moved hither and thither about his silent house,..savouring his strange pain. 1889 Max O'Rell Jacques Bonhomme 70 Savoring in advance the long list of dainties for the day. |
† b. To relish, enjoy (flavours). Also absol. Obs.
1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 17 He wolde seie þat he savered water, for hit kelede his mouþ and his jowes. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16990 For tyl I hadde gone to Scole with Trybulacion, I savoured fful lytil in the soote mylk of grace. 1566 Pasquine in Traunce 65 If a man giue them any deintier meate, they can not sauour it, and suche as they sauoure not, they vtterly dispise. |
10. To be conscious, or sensible of (an odour). † Also absol. Obs. or arch.
1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxx. 19 What shal profiten sacrifice to the maumet? and forsothe he shal not eten, ne sauouren [Vulg. nec odorabit]. c 1450 Myrc Festial 191 And þerwyth he felde þe swetyst smell þat euer he saverde. a 1542 Wyatt That the Season of Enjoyment 23 What vaileth the flower To stand still and wither; If no man it savour It serves only for sight. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. ii. 39 (1st Qo.) Filths sauor but themselues. 1864 Daily Tel. 8 Sept., You have the moor pretty much to yourself, can savour all its wild perfume, and listen to all its cries. |
11. To relish, like, care for. Obs. or arch.
So thou savourest in all versions of Matt. xvi. 23 from Wyclif 1380 to 1611; Vulg. sapis, Gr. ϕρονεῖς, Revised Version 1881 thou mindest.
c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 1, I sauyre noghte joye that with Jhesu es noghte mengede. c 1390 Chaucer Truth 5 Savour no more than thee bihove shal. 1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 1 To þese both þe holy apostell saide he was dettour, to paye ech of hem aftir þat he sauoured. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1331) 148 b, Some blynded with sensualite & carnall pleasure, sauouryng nothynge but y{supt} onely that is delectable to y⊇ body. 1584 Lodge Alarum (Shaks. Soc.) 77 Those that are earthly minded savor not the things that are of God. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iii. iv, Sauours himselfe alone, is onely kind And louing to himselfe. 1633 Ford Broken H. i. i, Beauteous Penthea wedded to this torture By an insulting brother,..he savours not humanity, Whose sorrow melts not into more than pity, In hearing but her name. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. (1900) 23 He [Worldly Wiseman] savoureth only the doctrine of this world. 1693 Norris Pract. Disc. (1698) IV. 223 Those false Relishes and depraved Tastes of the Soul which dispose it to Mind and Savour the Earth, and Earthly things. 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. xviii. 376 To give prominence to such rumours as they know will be savoured at their own Court. |
† 12. To perceive, apprehend; to discover traces of. Also, to experience. Obs.
a 1340 Hampole Psalter xciii. 8 The vnwis, withouten kunynge, & fulis, withouten puruyaunce of the tother warld, that ere in noumbire of cristen men, vndirstandis and sauyrs this. c 1440 Gesta Rom. (Add. MS.) 110 But wolde god, that wrechid man.., sauered and vndirstode, and ordeyned for his laste Ende! 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 248 Such seldom savour fortune's happiness. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 146 That we, in hartis, may sauour Thy mercy and thy fauour. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxvii. (1612) 317 By now, perhaps, thow sauorests [sic] some Godhead. 1659 Heylin Certamen Epist. 8 In your writings I savour a spirit so very distant from my disposition, that I have small hopes that my words will escape your displeasure. |
† b. to savour out: to scent out, get wind of. Obs.
1714 Ramsay Elegy John Cowper i, There's none..Could sa'r sculdudry out like John. |
† c. intr. To have a suspicion of. Obs. rare—1.
1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iii. ii, Sister, I see you sauour of my wiles. |
▪ III. savour
obs. form of saviour.