Forms: 4–8 tast, 4–5 taast, 4–6 (Sc. –7) taist, (6 Sc. test), 5– taste. [a. OF. tast touching, touch, = It. tasto a feeling, a touch, a trial, a taste (Florio); f. OF. taster (mod.F. tâter), It. tastare: see TASTE v. Cf. also OF. taste, It. tasta, a surgical probe.]
I. † 1. The sense of touch, feeling (with the hands, etc.); the act of touching, touch. Obs.
[1292. Britton, III. ii. § 13. Et puis soynt chargez qe eles … enquergent de la femme qe se fet enceynte par tast de soen ventre et de ses mameles.]
13[?]. Cursor M., 542 (Cott.). Þis vnder wynd him gis his aand, Þe erth þe tast, to fele and faand.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 208. The taste is a commyn witte, Spraden throgh the body, but hit Shewyth hym most by the handys…; by that witte we knowen hote, colde, dry, moyste, and other Suche thynges.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, I. lxxii. (1869), 42. At the taast, and at the sighte, at the smellinge, and at the sauouringe, bred and wyn it may seeme.
† 2. A trying, testing; a trial, test, examination.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XII. 131. Kynde witte cometh of alkynnes siȝtes,… of tastes of treuthe, and of deceytes.
1586–7. Q. Eliz., in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880), 30. To make tast of the greatest witz amongs my owne, and then of French and last of you.
1605. Shaks., Lear, I. ii. 47. I hope for my Brothers iustification, hee wrote this but as an essay, or taste of my Vertue.
1663. Flagellum, or O. Cromwell (1672), 155. To appoint a Tast or Recognition of the Government.
† b. A trial, an attempt. Obs. rare–1.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 5400. He wende haue taken þe toun in hast, Bot he failled of his tast.
II. † 3. The act of tasting, or perceiving the flavor of a thing with the organ of taste (sense 4); the fact of being tasted. Obs.
13[?]. Coer de L., 3075. When he has a good tast, And eeten weel a good repast.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 357. Þere-of we taken a tast what time þat vs nedeþ.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. I. 228. Tauerners ‘a tast for nouht’ tolden þe same.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, 613.
| A swete tree bryngeth forth by cours of nature | |
| Swete fruyte and delycyous in tast and verdure. |
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 176. For before the tast of the Gospel I was worse then a beast.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. vi. 13. The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his owne deliciousnesse, And in the taste confoundes the appetite.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 2. The Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 367. They obtained a grant of … the taste and assize of bread.
b. transf. The means of tasting; hence, such a small quantity as admits of being tasted; a very small quantity (esp. of alcoholic drink), a sip.
1530. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford (1880), 91. He sent for the tast of wyne … dew to him of every hoggshed.
15[?]. Aberdeen Reg. (Jam.). And send one taist of the wyne to the yerll of Roches.
1723. S. Sewall, Diary, 4 April. My wife sent them a Taste of her Dinner.
1888. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xxxviii. Bring me a taste of grog, will ye?
1904. in Eng. Dial. Dict. [from Scotl., Irel., N. Engl.].
c. fig. A slight experience, received or given; a slight show or sample of any condition or quality.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 373. Whanne I beclippe hire on the wast, Yit ate leste I stele a tast.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 234. That is none other thynge but a taste how swete our lord Jesu is.
1586. Day, Eng. Secretary, I. (1625), A ij b. Socrates in his cradle had no taste of his after-wisedome.
c. 1595. Capt. Wyatt, R. Dudley’s Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.), 40. Most of them havinge some little tast of the Spanish tounge.
1669. Penn, No Cross, xxi. § 39. A soul Mortified to the World, and quickned to some Tasts of a Supernatural Life.
1825. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. Superannuated Man. Where was the promised rest? Before I had a taste of it, it was banished.
1897. A. Morrison, Dorrington Deed-box, i. My first taste of grouse-shooting was a complete success.
d. A taste (advb.): colloq. to a small but perceptible degree; slightly; a little. Cf. BIT sb.2 5.
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, I. v. Aisy! Your legs a taste higher, sir, just to keep the pickle off your trousers. Ibid., III. xii. ‘Nancy will tidy the room a taste,’ she said coaxingly.
4. The faculty or sense by which that particular quality of a thing described in 5 is discerned, the organs of which are situated chiefly in the mouth; one of the five bodily senses.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 87. Whan þer tast is freishe, for to juge þe goodnesse, and after whan þei ben drunken and þer taist failiþ, þanne he puttiþ wers wyn.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 537. Þanne haue y tynt all my tast touche and assaie!
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., III. xx. (1495), d vj b/2. The taast is a wytte of knowynge sauours.
1587. Mascall, Govt. Cattle, Horses (1627), 111. Sometimes a horse will loose his tast, which commeth of sorrow.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., II. vii. 166. Second childishnesse, and meere obliuion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans euery thing.
1680. Morden, Geog. Rect., Germany (1685), 119. Fruits more pleasant to the sight or tast.
1861. Hulme, trans. Moquin-Tandon, II. I. 49. Taste is a species of touch of still more delicate character.
1884. Cornh. Mag., Dec., 620. Taste … is not equally distributed over the whole surface of the tongue alike.
b. Out of taste, not able to distinguish flavors.
a. 1541. Wyatt, Sonnets, xviii. And if I have, after such bitterness, One drop of sweet, my mouth is out of taste.
1646. Jenkyn, Remora, 20. The palat … is put out of taste.
1729. Swift, Direct. Servants, Footman, ¶ 28. Your mistress will confess that her mouth is out of taste.
5. That quality or property of a body or substance which is perceived when it is brought into contact with certain organs of the mouth, etc., esp. the tongue; savor, sapidity; the particular sensation excited by anything in this manner.
1382. Wyclif, Jer. xlviii. 11. Therfore abod stille his tast in hym, and his smel is not chaungid.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xxvii. 273. Full gode fissch … of right goode last.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 15. Damysyns wiche withe her taste delyte.
1535. Coverdale, Wisd. xvi. 2. A new & straunge taist.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., II. 11. A far more liuely & penetratiue tast.
1605. Timme, Quersit., I. v. 19. Diuers kindes of saltes … haue diuers tastes.
1702. J. Purcell, Cholick (1714), 87. The acid Taste of this Recrement, and its coagulating of Milk, are undoubted.
1800. trans. Lagrange’s Chem., II. 74. Iron … has a styptic taste, very sensible.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem. (1862), III. 161. Sometimes a wine acquires a peculiar flavour known as the ‘taste of the cask.’
fig. 14[?]. Hoccleve, Compl. Virgin, 213. Ther-in fynde I a bittir taast; For now the taast I feele & the streynynge Of deeth.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 176. How comfortable is the feeling and tast of grace.
1605. Shaks., Macb., V. v. 9. I haue almost forgot the taste of Feares.
1720. Mrs. Manley, Power of Love (1741), III. 187. All the Favours upon Earth, from the greatest Beauties could have no Taste for Roderigo.
1864. Adelaide DeV. Chaudron, trans., Mühlbach’s Joseph II., II. xi. 47. Flattery indiscriminately bestowed leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
1904. Daily News, 14 Dec., 5. The poems leave a nasty taste in the mouth; the taste of a snarl and a sneer.
† b. Odor, scent, smell. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1668. Þat smelt is & smethe, smellis full swete, With taste for to touche the tabull aboute.
c. 1475[?]. Sqr. lowe Degre, 850. Frankensence and olibanum That whan ye slepe the taste may come.
III. † 6. Mental perception of quality; judgment, discriminative faculty. Obs. exc. as in 8.
13[?]. Cursor M., 11327 (Cott.). Þis symeon þat had his tast Tochod o þe hali gast. Ibid. (a. 1425), 18889 (Trin.). Þe salmes seiþ bi good taast His wonynge shulde be wilde & waast.
1502. Atkynson, trans. De Imitatione, I. xxii. 171. Thou hast no spirituall tast.
1692. Dryden, St. Euremont’s Ess., 350. If so be they demand of me … more than discretion in Commerce, and a taste in Confidence.
7. The fact or condition of liking or preferring something; inclination, liking for; † appreciation.
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 72. Therfore wille thou … employ thy corage after the taste of our desires.
1552. Godly Prayers, in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847), 253. That we … may have some taste and feeling for it in our hearts.
c. 1580[?]. T. Hacket, Treas. Amadis de Gaule, 236. She hath somewhat a regarde to things that are agaynst my owne taste.
1635. N. R., Camden’s Hist. Eliz., II. 153. From the time that I had any tast of Religion.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 93, ¶ 13. A Man that has a Taste of Musick, Painting, or Architecture.
1727. Pope, etc., Art of Sinking, 73. The taste of the bathos is implanted by nature itself in the soul of man.
1728. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 3, ¶ 3. Whoever hath a taste for true humour.
1791. Mrs. Inchbald, Simp. Story, III. v. 70. She had acquired a taste for those amusements.
1838. Lytton, Alice, I. ix. The other girl is more amusing, more to my taste.
1880. L. Stephen, Pope, iv. 86. Every opportunity for the indulgence of his favourite tastes.
† b. Enjoyment, pleasure, ‘relish.’ Const. in, of.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. ix. 150. He found not in himselfe any disposition to goe to any other place, nor to take any taste in any thing.
a. 1716. Blackall, Wks. (1723), I. 15. The Happiness of a Man’s life consists not in the Abundance of the things that he possesses … But in the taste and relish that he has of them.
c. transf. The object of one’s liking or preference.
1739. G. Stone in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 392. White beauties … are the taste of the Irish nation.
8. The sense of what is appropriate, harmonious, or beautiful; esp. discernment and appreciation of the beautiful in nature or art; spec. the faculty of perceiving and enjoying what is excellent in art, literature, and the like.
1671. Milton, P. R., IV. 347. Sion’s songs, to all true tasts excelling Where God is prais’d aright.
1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, I. ii. No, no, hang him, he has no Taste.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 409, ¶ 1. Rules … how we may acquire that fine Taste of Writing, which is so much talked of among the Polite World.
1768. W. Gilpin, Ess. Prints, 160. There is a fine taste in his landskips.
1776. Sir J. Reynolds, Disc. Art (1778), 311. I have mentioned taste in dress, which is certainly one of the lowest subjects to which this word is applied.
1784. J. Barry, in Lect. Paint., ii. (1848), 108. The word Taste, as applied to objects of vision, means … that quick discerning faculty or power of the mind by which we accurately distinguish the good, bad, or indifferent.
1798. G. T., in Monthly Visitor, V. 359. The taste of the dog for music is well known, particularly where the rhythm [printed ryhthm] is strongly marked, and such as suits the frank and open character of that animal.
a. 1834. Coleridge, Treat. Method, i. (1849), 16. A fine Musical taste is soon dissatisfied with the Harmonica, or any similar instrument of glass or steel.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 254. Taste is displayed both in the forms and grouping of the figures, and the disposition of the colours.
1850. W. Irving, Goldsmith, xxvii. 268. The latter part of the year 1768 had been made memorable in the world of taste by the institution of the Royal Academy of Arts.
1872. Minto, Eng. Prose Lit., Introd. 29. The word taste … in its wider sense is equivalent to artistic sensibility,… in its narrower sense it may be expressed as artistic judgment.
b. Style or manner exhibiting æsthetic discernment; good or bad æsthetic quality; the style or manner favored in any age or country.
1739. Labelye, Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br., 44. The People who design’d and executed London-Bridge, and other Bridges in the same Taste.
1755. Compl. Lett.-writer (1759), 227. Her own old-fashioned breast-plate in the taste of the last century.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxviii. A rich habit, which partook more of the Eastern taste than that of Europe.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, II. xii. Nothing could be more moderate, or, as Miss Gusset said, ‘in better taste.’
1843. Borrow, Bible in Spain, xxxvi. (Pelb. Libr.), 256. It was … built something in the Moorish taste.
IV. 9. attrib. and Comb., as taste-area, -center, -fiber, -meter; taste-pleasing adj.; taste-beaker, -bud, -bulb, -goblet, one of the flask-shaped bodies in the epithelium of the tongue, believed to be organs of taste; taste-cell: see quot.; taste-corpuscle = taste-cell; taste-cup, -pit, one of the minute pits found on the epipharynx of an insect, having in the center a peg, the termination of a nerve; taste-hair, one of the setæ or bristles, near the mouth of an insect or other arthropod, supposed to be organs of taste; † taste-paper, in the (old) Greats examination at Oxford, the paper in which passages were set from the classical authors for critical and exegetical treatment.
1901. E. B. Titchener, Exper. Psychol., I. iv. 64. Each papilla carries a number of *taste-beakers, clusters of taste-cells and supporting cells, which constitute the specific end-organs of taste.
1883. Science, I. 232/2. The *taste-bulbs, numbering 700 or more, lying in the papillary wall of the valla.
1888. J. G. M’Kendrick, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 79/2. The terminal organs of taste consist of peculiar bodies named taste-bulbs or taste-goblets.
1890. Billings, Nat. Med. Dict., s.v. Taste, *Taste-cells, spindle-shaped or staff-shaped cells in the interior of the taste-bulbs.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Taste-center, the gustatory nervous center, located by Ferrier in the gyrus uncinatus of the brain.
1898. Packard, Text-bk. Entomol., 45. The structure and armature of the epipharyngeal surface even besides the *taste-pits, *taste-cups, and rods, is very varied.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 793. Whether the *taste-fibres pass by the second or third divisions of the nerve.
1905. Jrnl. R. Micros. Soc., April, 180. *Taste-hairs, homologous with Kræpelin’s taste-hairs in Muscidæ, are found in various orders of insects.
1814. Coleridge, in Cottle, Remin. (1837), II. 211. This *taste-meter to the fashionable world, gives a ludicrous portrait of an African belle.
1860. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., xxiv. In the *taste paper…, as they compare notes, he seems to have almost struck the bull’s eye in his answers.
1898. *Taste-pit [see taste-cup].
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, I. (1622), 8. A place cunningly set with trees of the most *tast-pleasing fruits.
