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sapor

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsa.pɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsaː.por][1]

Forms

sapor m (genitive sapōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from sapiō “to taste of” with the suffix -or.[2][1][3] Köbler traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sap- (“to taste”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of flavour.[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant flavour, taste, the taste a thing has, as Cicero's honey known by its own kind of flavour.[2][5] In Cicero it also meant the distinctive flavour of a style or person, and the sense of taste.[2] In Pliny the Elder it meant a smell.[2] Döderlein explains that sapor is the flavour of the thing, while gustus is the sensation of the taster.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant taste, delicacy, flavour.[7] It survives in Italian sapore, French saveur and Spanish sabor, and Old French savor gave English savor about 1200.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of flavour.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of style and of the sense of taste.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of smell.[2][4]
  • c. 1200 – English savor is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Flavour, taste.[2]
  2. Distinctive quality, of style or character.[2]
  3. The sense of taste.[2]
  4. Smell, odour.[2]

Word family

  • saporatus
  • sapōrō
  • sapōrus
  • sapōrōsus
  • sapidē
  • sapidus
  • sapiēns
  • sapienter
  • sapientia
  • sapientiālis
  • sapientipotēns
  • sapiō
  • English savor
  • English savory

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from gustus, the sensation of taste.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson