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flavor

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Etymology and origin of the English word flavor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300 More words from the 13th century
From
Old French flaor
Ultimate origin
Latin flator

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈfleɪvə/[1]
  • US: /ˈfleɪvɚ/[1]

Forms

Etymology

It is Middle English flavour, an alteration, influenced by savor, from 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 flō, 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

Usage notes

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

References

  1. ^ a b 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Flavor.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/flavor. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·