Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “taste” come from?

Taste comes from Middle English tasten, from Old French taster, from Vulgar Latin tasto, from Latin taxo, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European tag- meaning to touch or handle.

taste (English): One of the sensations produced by the tongue in...

Definitions

  1. One of the sensations produced by the tongue in...

Ancestry of “taste”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishtastenTo taste; To partake in or ingest; To examine by...
2Old Frenchtasterto taste; to touch; to hit; to strike
3Vulgar Latintastareto touch, feel; present active infinitive of...
4Latintaxāre—
5LatinTaxusyew
6Ancient GreekεἶδοςThat which is seen: form, image, shape;...
7Spanish-scopio-scope
8Latin-scopium—
9Ancient GreekσκοπέωI look, look at, behold; I examine, inspect; 413...
10Ancient Greekσκοπόςwatcher, lookout; protector, guardian; spy, scout
11Ancient GreekσκέπτομαιI look at, examine; I examine, consider, think
12Proto-Hellenicsképťomaito look at
13Proto-Indo-Europeanspéḱyetito be looking at, to keep looking at
14Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “taste”

  • tasting
  • distasteful
  • distaste
  • tasty
  • tasteless
  • tasteful
  • tastefully
  • taster
  • aftertaste
  • distastefully
  • tastelessness
  • tastily
  • tastefulness
  • tastiness
  • tastelessly
  • distastefulness
  • tasteth
  • tastemaker
  • winetasting
  • nontaster
  • untasteful
  • supertaster
  • tastemaking
  • tastebud
Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →