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
- To taste, try (a little of something) to judge its flavour: goûter une sauce.[9][11]
- To enjoy, savour (a sensation or feeling): goûter le calme d'un lieu.[9][11]
- (literary) To like, appreciate: je goûte vivement la poésie.[9]
- Goûter à, goûter de: to taste, try for the first time.[4][3]
- (intransitive) To have an afternoon snack.[3][4]
- (Belgium, Quebec) To taste of, (Belgium) to please.[1][4][10]
Noun
Word family
- dégoûter
- goûteur
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 340a
- ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)