goûter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡu.te/^[1]

Forms

goûter^[1] Old French goster, guster;^[2][3][1] Middle French gouster;^[2][3][1] goûter from the 17th century.^[2][3][1] In the reformed spelling also gouter.^[4][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French goster, inherited from Latin gustō (“to taste; to have a snack”), from gustus (“taste”) (see goût).^{[3][5][2][6][7]} Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “to have a light meal” already existed in classical Latin, though it is rare in the dialects.^[6] The learned déguster comes from the prefixed Latin verb.^[1]

Cognate with Italian gustare, Spanish gustar, Portuguese gostar and Occitan gostar.^[8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eneas (about 1130) has goster with de; in Wace (1155) guster de means to eat or taste a little of something.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Figurative uses developed in the 15th century: Chastellain uses it for feeling or appreciating (late 15th century), and Commynes has se gouster for two people who like each other (about 1500).^[3] Robert Estienne records in 1538 the sense “to have a light meal in the afternoon”, and Montaigne (1580) uses it for trying something for the first time.^[3][2] Under the influence of the noun goût, it came to mean “to find to one's taste, approve”, a literary use today.^[9][2]

The infinitive used as a noun, le goûter, the afternoon snack, is also from Estienne (1538); Richelet (1680) calls it popular, the court saying collation.^[3] In Belgium and Quebec goûter also means “to taste of” and “to please”.^[1][10][4]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – Goster de, in Eneas.^[2]
• 1155 – Guster, in Wace.^[3]
• Late 15th century – “To feel, appreciate”, in Chastellain.^[3]
• 1538 – “To have an afternoon snack”, and the noun goûter, in Robert Estienne.^[3]
• 1580 – “To try for the first time”, in Montaigne.^[3]
• 1680 – Richelet calls the noun popular.^[3]
• 1859 – Belgian ça te goûte ? “does that suit you?”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To taste, try (a little of something) to judge its flavour: goûter une sauce.^[9][11]
2. To enjoy, savour (a sensation or feeling): goûter le calme d'un lieu.^[9][11]
3. (literary) To like, appreciate: je goûte vivement la poésie.^[9]
4. Goûter à, goûter de: to taste, try for the first time.^[4][3]
5. (intransitive) To have an afternoon snack.^[3][4]
6. (Belgium, Quebec) To taste of, (Belgium) to please.^[1][4][10]

Noun

1. An afternoon snack, especially children's, between lunch and dinner: l'heure du goûter.^[9][3]

Word family

• dégoûter
• goûteur

Related words

• goût
• déguster
• Latin gustō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 340a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)