Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Taste
Taste
(tāst)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tasted
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Tasting
.] [OE. ]
tasten
to feel, to taste, OF. taster
, F. tater
to feel, to try by the touch, to try, to taste, (assumed) LL. taxitare
, fr. L. taxare
to touch sharply, to estimate. See Tax
, Verb.
T.
1.
To try by the touch; to handle;
as, to
. taste
a bow[Obs.]
Chapman.
Taste
it well and stone thou shalt it find. Chaucer.
2.
To try by the touch of the tongue; to perceive the relish or flavor of (anything) by taking a small quantity into a mouth. Also used figuratively.
When the ruler of the feast had
tasted
the water that was made wine. John ii. 9.
When Commodus had once
tasted
human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse. Gibbon.
3.
To try by eating a little; to eat a small quantity of.
I
tasted
a little of this honey. 1 Sam. xiv. 29.
4.
To become acquainted with by actual trial; to essay; to experience; to undergo.
He . . . should
taste
death for every man. Heb. ii. 9.
5.
To partake of; to participate in; – usually with an implied sense of relish or pleasure.
Thou . . . wilt
No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary.
taste
No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary.
Milton.
Taste
,Verb.
I.
1.
To try food with the mouth; to eat or drink a little only; to try the flavor of anything;
as, to
. taste
of each kind of wine2.
To have a smack; to excite a particular sensation, by which the specific quality or flavor is distinguished; to have a particular quality or character;
as, this water
. tastes
brackish; the milk tastes
of garlicYea, every idle, nice, and wanton reason
Shall to the king
Shall to the king
taste
of this action. Shakespeare
3.
To take sparingly.
For age but
tastes
of pleasures, youth devours. Dryden.
4.
To have perception, experience, or enjoyment; to partake;
as, to
. taste
of nature’s bountyWaller.
The valiant never
taste
of death but once. Shakespeare
Taste
,Noun.
1.
The act of tasting; gustation.
2.
A particular sensation excited by the application of a substance to the tongue; the quality or savor of any substance as perceived by means of the tongue; flavor;
as, the
taste
of an orange or an apple; a bitter taste
; an acid taste
; a sweet taste
.3.
(Physiol.)
The one of the five senses by which certain properties of bodies (called their taste, savor, flavor) are ascertained by contact with the organs of taste.
☞ Taste depends mainly on the contact of soluble matter with the terminal organs (connected with branches of the glossopharyngeal and other nerves) in the papillae on the surface of the tongue. The base of the tongue is considered most sensitive to bitter substances, the point to sweet and acid substances.
4.
Intellectual relish; liking; fondness; – formerly with of, now with for;
as, he had no
. taste
for studyI have no
Of popular applause.
taste
Of popular applause.
Dryden.
5.
The power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles-letters; critical judgment; discernment.
6.
Manner, with respect to what is pleasing, refined, or in accordance with good usage; style;
as, music composed in good
taste
; an epitaph in bad taste
.7.
Essay; trial; experience; experiment.
Shak.
8.
A small portion given as a specimen; a little piece tasted or eaten; a bit.
Bacon.
9.
A kind of narrow and thin silk ribbon.
Syn. – Savor; relish; flavor; sensibility; gout.
–
Taste
, Sensibility
, Judgment
. Some consider taste as a mere sensibility, and others as a simple exercise of judgment; but a union of both is requisite to the existence of anything which deserves the name. An original sense of the beautiful is just as necessary to aesthetic judgments, as a sense of right and wrong to the formation of any just conclusions on moral subjects. But this “sense of the beautiful” is not an arbitrary principle. It is under the guidance of reason; it grows in delicacy and correctness with the progress of the individual and of society at large; it has its laws, which are seated in the nature of man; and it is in the development of these laws that we find the true “standard of taste.” What, then, is
Active and strong, and feelingly alive
To each fine impulse? a discerning sense
Of decent and sublime, with quick disgust
From things deformed, or disarranged, or gross
In species? This, nor gems, nor stores of gold,
Nor purple state, nor culture, can bestow,
But God alone, when first his active hand
Imprints the secret bias of the soul.
taste
, but those internal powers,Active and strong, and feelingly alive
To each fine impulse? a discerning sense
Of decent and sublime, with quick disgust
From things deformed, or disarranged, or gross
In species? This, nor gems, nor stores of gold,
Nor purple state, nor culture, can bestow,
But God alone, when first his active hand
Imprints the secret bias of the soul.
Akenside.
Taste buds
, or
Taste goblets
(Anat.)
, the flask-shaped end organs of taste in the epithelium of the tongue. They are made up of modified epithelial cells arranged somewhat like leaves in a bud.
Webster 1828 Edition
Taste
TASTE
, v.t.1.
To perceive by means of the tongue; to have a certain sensation in consequence of something applied to the tongue, the organ of taste; as, to taste bread; to taste wine; to taste a sweet or an acid.2.
To try the relish of by the perception of the organs of taste.3.
To try by eating a little; or to eat a little. Because I tasted a little of this honey. 1 Sam.14.
4.
To essay first.5.
To have pleasure from.6.
To experience; to feel; to undergo. That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Heb.2.
7.
To relish intellectually; to enjoy. Thou, Adam, wilt taste no pleasure.
8.
To experience by shedding, as blood. When Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse.
TASTE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To have a smack; to excite a particular sensation, by which the quality or flavor is distinguished; as, butter tastes of garlic; apples boiled in a brass-kettle, sometimes taste of brass.2.
To distinguish intellectually. Scholars, when good sense describing,
Call it tasting and imbibing.
3.
To try the relish of any thing. Taste of the fruits; taste for yourself.4.
To be tinctured; to have a particular quality or character. Ev'ry idle, nice and wanton reason
Shall, to the king, taste of this action.
5.
To experience; to have perception of. The valiant never taste of death but once.
6.
To take to be enjoyed. Of nature's bounty men forbore to taste.
7.
To enjoy sparingly. For age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours.
8.
To have the experience or enjoyment of. They who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and the good word of God. Heb.6.
TASTE
,Noun.
1.
A particular sensation excited in an animal by the application of a substance to the tongue, the proper organ; as the taste of an orange or an apple; a bitter taste; an acid taste; a sweet taste.2.
The sense by which we perceive the relish of a thing. This sense appears to reside in the tongue or its papillae. Men have a great variety of tastes. In the influenza of 1790, the taste, for some days, was entirely extinguished.3.
Intellectual relish; as, he had no taste of true glory. I have no taste
Of popular applause.
[Note. In this use, the word is now followed by for. 'He had no taste for glory.' When followed by of, the sense is ambiguous, or rather it denotes experience, trial.]
4.
Judgment; discernment; nice perception, or the power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles lettres. Taste is not wholly the gift of nature, nor wholly the effect of art. It depends much on culture. We say, a good taste, or a fine taste.5.
Style; manner, with respect to what is pleasing; as a poem or music composed in good taste.6.
Essay; trial; experiment. [Not in use.]7.
A small portion given as a specimen.8.
A bit; a little piece tasted or eaten.