flavor English · revision 10410

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro flaor|origins=la flator}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfleɪvə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfleɪvɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English flavour, an alteration, influenced by [[savor]], of Old French [[m|fro|flaor|t=smell, odour]], flaur,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) probably from Vulgar Latin *flātor, odour, literally that which blows, from Latin flātor, a blower, from flāre, to blow (see [[blow]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) according to Watkins from PIE *bʰleh₁-, to blow.^(Etymonline) The same Vulgar Latin source produced Old Italian fiatore, a bad smell.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A smell or odour, usually a pleasing one: about 1300 in Etymonline, probably about 1380 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Century Dictionary called it not common before Milton's time.^(Etymonline) The sense of taste, savour, originally the element of taste that depends on smell, is from the 1690s, perhaps the 1670s;^(Etymonline) Barnhart first records it in Congreve's translation of Juvenal (1697), noting that Milton's use in ''Samson Agonistes'' (1671) already suggests it.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb meant to smell in the early 15th century, to give a distinctive quality to in the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and to season food from 1730–40.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Flavoring'' is from 1845.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Flavor of the month'', first of ice cream, is from 1946.^(Etymonline) The -v- may be euphonic or from savor.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a smell.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – to give a quality to (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1697 – taste.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1730–36 – to season food.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1845 – flavoring.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1946 – flavor of the month.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The distinctive [[taste]] of something.^(AHD)

+ # A distinctive but intangible quality: ''the flavor of the city''.^(AHD)

+ # A substance added to give taste; a flavoring.^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Aroma or fragrance.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give flavor to; to season.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flavorer]]

+ * [[flavorless]]

+ * [[flavory]]

+ * [[flavored]]

+ * [[flavorful]]

+ * [[flavorfully]]

+ * [[flavorsome]]

+ * [[flavoring]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flavour]]

+ * [[savor]]

+ * [[flatulent]]

+ * [[inflate]]

+ * [[blow]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Flavor is the American spelling, flavour the British.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}