gustus Latin · revision 719

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɡʊs.tʊs], [ˈɡʊs.tuːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡus.tus], [ˈɡus.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gustus''' ''m'' (genitive gustūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*gustu-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ǵus-tu-|t=taste]], from the root [[m|ine-pro|*ǵews-|t=to taste, choose]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The verb [[gusto|alt=gustāre]] replaced the old present, and the zero grade survives in [[degunere|alt=dēgūnere]] “to taste”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[grc|γεύομαι|tr=geúomai|t=to taste]], [[sa|जोषति|tr=jóṣati|t=enjoys]], [[got|𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽|tr=kiusan|t=to test]], related to [[en|choose]], and, with the same suffix, [[got|𐌺𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃|tr=kustus|t=test]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who writes that love is sweet to the [[m|en|taste]] but bitter in the end.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) It also meant a flavour, and a small portion, a taste, especially the light first course of a Roman dinner.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it meant a sample or foretaste, and Quintilian compares good judgement to the sense of taste.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Lewis and Short note that it is mostly post-Augustan and absent from Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It gave French ''goût'' and Italian ''gusto'',^(Wiktionary) and the Italian word entered English as [[en|gusto]] in the 1620s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus contrasts the taste and the aftertaste of love.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Celsus writes of poisons harmful in a wound but not to the taste.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus mentions the slave who tasted the emperor's food.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1620s – Italian ''gusto'' enters English as [[en|gusto]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tasting; the sense of [[m|en|taste]]; a testing for flavour.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|flavour]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A small portion; the first course of a dinner, an [[m|en|hors d'oeuvre]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A sample, foretaste.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gustulum]]

+ * [[gustum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gustō]]

+ * [[en|gusto]]

+ * [[en|disgust]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}