Forms: 4–6 tastour, 5 -ar, taastowre, 6– taster. [a. AF. tastour = OF. tasteur, f. OF. taster: see TASTE v. Later treated as agent-n. of the Eng. vb.: see -ER1.]
1. One who tastes, or tries the quality of a thing by tasting; spec. one whose office, business, or employment is to test the quality of victuals sold to the public, as ale, wine, tea, etc., by taste; hence in comb. ALE-TASTER, TEA-TASTER, q.v. Also fig. In quot. 1596, the mouth.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 487/1. Taastowre, gustator, ambro.
c. 1450. in Surtees Misc. (1888), 62. Two ale tastars, ye qwhyche two tastars … schall taste the ale of all common brewers every weke.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 274 b. To be vynteners, discerners, and tasters of the same.
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax (1814), 36. Riding on a great sow and holding before her taster a dirty pudding.
1633. G. Herbert, Temple, Odour, i. As Amber-greese leaves a rich sent Unto the taster.
1756. C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, I. 79. Judicious tasters dilute hot liquors.
1854. Lowell, Jrnl. in Italy, Pr. Wks. 1890, I. 115. I reckon myself a good taster of dialects.
1866. Carlyle, Remin., E. Irving (1881), 314. I … demanded back my poor MS. from Murray, received with it some apologetic palaver (enclosing an opinion from his taster …), and much hope [etc.].
1899. Anne Douglas Sedgwick, Confounding of Camelia, ii. 11. The incongruity, of an intimately modern young taster of life, whose look of pagan joyousness took neither herself nor other people seriously.
1905. Sat. Rev., 17 June, 816/1. On the whole the first literary ‘taster’ of the MS. was, we think, justified in rejecting Coryat.
b. transf. A device which tests as by tasting.
1837. Whewell, Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857), III. 24. Which thus acted as a sort of electric taster.
2. A domestic officer whose duty it is to taste food and drink about to be served to his master, in order to ascertain their quality, or to detect poison.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VIII. 197. A monk … made a drink of venym,… and drank to þe kyng as it were his tastour.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, s.v. Eschanson, A taster of meates to kinges or other.
1602. T. Fitzherbert, Apol., 31. The Emperour Claudius, poysoned by his taster.
1662. Hibbert, Body Div., I. 206. Princes have their tasters before they eat, lest there should be poison in the dish.
1738. Swift, Pol. Conversat., i. 13. What, Miss, Will you be my Taster [of a dish of tea]?
1895. Westm. Gaz., 30 Oct., 3/2. Not a morsel or a drop ever passes the Sultan’s lips, they say, until he has tried it first on a taster.
fig. 1640. Reynolds, Passions, xvii. 179. Knowledge is Appetites Taster.
3. An implement by which a small portion of anything is taken for tasting.
a. A small shallow cup of silver, often with an embossed or corrugated bottom that reflects the light through the liquor, for tasting wines.
1420. E. E. Wills (1882), 46. A tastour of seluer with myn owne merke ymade in þe bottom.
1530. Palsgr., 279/2. Tastour a lytell cuppe to tast wyne, tasse a gouster le uin.
1681. Lond. Gaz., No. 1665/4. One Silver Brandy Taster, marked with R. H. A. Ibid. (1704), No. 4055/4. Two long footed Silver Cups, one Taster.
1858. [see b].
b. An instrument by which a small portion is taken from the interior of a cheese; a skewer for testing the condition of hams.
1784. J. Twamley, Dairying Exempl., 79. I told her Cheese of that countenance always was sweet. I put my taster into one and gave it her to taste.
1811. [see cheese-taster, CHEESE sb.1 7].
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Taster,… a scoop for tasting cheese; a skewer for trying hams; a dram cup.
4. A small portion of food, etc., or of anything, for a sample; a taste.
1826. Syd. Smith, Granby, Wks. 1867, II. 90. It shall be the taster of the cheese, and we are convinced it will sell the whole article.
1891. Daily News, 28 July, 7/2. He went to the defendant’s [an ice-cream vendor] stall in London-wall and asked him for a ‘taster.’
1899. Westm. Gaz., 20 May, 2/1. The ‘taster,’ a free gift bestowed of yore in order to retain the … goodwill of regular but temporarily impecunious customers.
