savour

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English[edit]

WOTD – 18 June 2024

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English savour (“flavour; flavouring; taste; smell; appetite; characteristic; essence; attractiveness; delight, pleasure; knowledge, wisdom”),[1] from Anglo-Norman saveur, savor, savour, and Old French saveur, savor, savour (“flavour; flavouring; taste; scent; delight, pleasure; knowledge, wisdom”) (modern French saveur), from Latin sapor (“flavour; taste; scent; smell”),[2] from sapiō (“to taste of (something); to have a flavour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-, *sep- (“to taste; to try out”)) + -or (suffix forming third-declension masculine abstract nouns). Doublet of sapor.

cognates

Noun[edit]

savour (countable and uncountable, plural savours) (British spelling)

  1. (countable) An aroma or smell.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 5, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:
      He held out to me a bowl of steaming broth, that filled the room with a savour sweeter, ten thousand times, to me than every rose and lily of the world; yet would not let me drink it at a gulp, but made me sip it with a spoon like any baby.
  2. (uncountable) The quality which the sense of taste detects; also (countable), a specific flavour or taste, especially one different from the predominant one.
    1. (countable, chiefly in the negative) An appealing or appetizing flavour, especially one which is savoury or strong.
  3. (figurative)
    1. (countable) A distinctive sensation like a flavour or taste, or an aroma or smell.
      • 1650, Richard Baxter, The Saints Everlasting Rest:
        Why is not my life a continual joy, and the savour of heaven perpetually upon my spirit?
      • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter I, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:
        Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
    2. (countable) A particular quality, especially a small amount of it; a hint or trace of something.
      Synonym: tinge
    3. (countable, chiefly in the negative) A quality which is appealing or enjoyable; merit, value.
    4. (uncountable) Enjoyment or taste for something; appreciation; pleasure; relish; (countable) an instance of this.
    5. (uncountable, obsolete) Knowledge; understanding.
      • [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885, →OCLC:
        beyond my savour
Alternative forms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
aroma or smell — see aroma,‎ smell
particular quality, especially a small amount of it — see hint,‎ trace
quality which is appealing or enjoyable — see merit,‎ value
enjoyment or taste for something; an instance of this — see appreciation,‎ pleasure,‎ relish

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English savouren, savour (“to be tasty; to give flavour; to have flavour; to taste or enjoy the taste of (something); to be able to smell; to have a smell; to smell (something); to enjoy; to give pleasure; to know, understand; to learn; to have a spiritual experience”),[3] from Anglo-Norman savorer, savourer, Middle French savorer, savourer, and Old French savorer, savourer (“to give flavour; to have flavour; to be pleasant; to taste or enjoy the taste of (something); to enjoy; to know, perceive”) (modern French savourer), from Late Latin sapōrāre, the present active infinitive of sapōrō (“to give flavour, make tasty; to give pleasure”), from Latin sapor (“flavour; taste; scent; smell”) (see etymology 1)[4] + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).

cognates

Verb[edit]

savour (third-person singular simple present savours, present participle savouring, simple past and past participle savoured) (British spelling)

  1. (intransitive) To possess a particular taste or smell, or a distinctive quality.
  2. (transitive) To appreciate, enjoy or relish something.
    • 2020 August 26, Andrew Mourant, “Reinforced against future flooding”, in Rail, page 58:
      A journey along the Conwy Valley line is one to savour for aficionados of scenic railways.
    He closed his eyes so he could really savour his dessert.
  3. (transitive, archaic) To season.
    • 1974, W. R. Barron, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (modern translation)
      […] divers sorts of fish; some baked in bread, some broiled on the coals, some seethed, some in gravy savoured with spices, and all with condiments so cunning that it caused him delight.
Alternative forms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ “sāvǒur, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “savour | savor, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “savour, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “sāvǒuren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ “savour | savor, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2023; “savour, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from Old French savor, savour, from Latin sapor, sapōrem.

Noun[edit]

savour

  1. taste
Descendants[edit]
  • English: savour, savor

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

savour

  1. Alternative form of saveour

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin sapor, sapōrem.

Noun[edit]

savour oblique singular, m (oblique plural savours, nominative singular savours, nominative plural savour)

  1. taste

Quotations[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

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