gustus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡʊs.tʊs], [ˈɡʊs.tuːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡus.tus], [ˈɡus.tus]^[1]

Forms

gustus m (genitive gustūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *gustu-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵus-tu- (“taste”), from the root *ǵews- (“to taste, choose”).^[2][1] The verb gustāre replaced the old present, and the zero grade survives in dēgūnere “to taste”.^[2]

Cognate with Ancient Greek γεύομαι (geúomai, “to taste”), Sanskrit जोषति (jóṣati, “enjoys”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (kiusan, “to test”), related to English choose, and, with the same suffix, Gothic 𐌺𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (kustus, “test”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[2][5] who writes that love is sweet to the taste but bitter in the end.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the act of tasting, the sense of taste, and the testing of food or drink, as by a slave who tasted dishes to guard against poison.^[3][6] It also meant a flavour, and a small portion, a taste, especially the light first course of a Roman dinner.^[3][7] Figuratively it meant a sample or foretaste, and Quintilian compares good judgement to the sense of taste.^[3][8]

Lewis and Short note that it is mostly post-Augustan and absent from Cicero.^[7] It gave French goût and Italian gusto,^[1] and the Italian word entered English as English gusto in the 1620s.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus contrasts the taste and the aftertaste of love.^[3][5]
• 1st century AD – Celsus writes of poisons harmful in a wound but not to the taste.^[3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus mentions the slave who tasted the emperor's food.^[3][5]
• 1620s – Italian gusto enters English as English gusto.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tasting; the sense of taste; a testing for flavour.^[3][7]
2. A flavour.^[3]
3. A small portion; the first course of a dinner, an hors d'oeuvre.^[3][7]
4. A sample, foretaste.^[3]

Word family

• gustulum
• gustum

Related words

• gustō
• English gusto
• English disgust

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.