Etymologically
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flavor

Etymology and origin of the English word flavor

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300
Ultimate origin
Latin (flator)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfleɪvə/ (UK); /ˈfleɪvɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English flavour, an alteration, influenced by savor, of Old French flaor (“smell, odour”), flaur,[2][3][4] probably from Vulgar Latin *flātor, odour, literally that which blows, from Latin flātor, a blower, from flāre, to blow (see blow),[2][3] according to Watkins from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-, to blow.[3] The same Vulgar Latin source produced Old Italian fiatore, a bad smell.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A smell or odour, usually a pleasing one: about 1300 in Etymonline, probably about 1380 in Barnhart.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Century Dictionary called it not common before Milton's time.[3] The sense of taste, savour, originally the element of taste that depends on smell, is from the 1690s, perhaps the 1670s;[3] Barnhart first records it in Congreve's translation of Juvenal (1697), noting that Milton's use in Samson Agonistes (1671) already suggests it.[2] The verb meant to smell in the early 15th century, to give a distinctive quality to in the 1540s,[3] and to season food from 1730–40.[2][3] Flavoring is from 1845.[2] Flavor of the month, first of ice cream, is from 1946.[3] The -v- may be euphonic or from savor.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – a smell.[3]
  • 1540s – to give a quality to (verb).[3]
  • 1697 – taste.[2]
  • 1730–36 – to season food.[2]
  • 1845 – flavoring.[2]
  • 1946 – flavor of the month.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The distinctive taste of something.
  2. A distinctive but intangible quality: the flavor of the city.
  3. A substance added to give taste; a flavoring.
  4. (archaic) Aroma or fragrance.

Verb

  1. To give flavor to; to season.

Word family

  • flavorer
  • flavorless
  • flavory
  • flavored
  • flavorful
  • flavorfully
  • flavorsome
  • flavoring
  • flavour
  • savor
  • flatulent
  • inflate
  • blow

Usage notes

Flavor is the American spelling, flavour the British.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Flavor.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/flavor. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·