taster

English

A wine taster.

Etymology

From Middle English taster; equivalent to taste +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teɪstɚ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪstə(ɹ)

Noun

taster (plural tasters)

1. An object in which, or by which, food or drink is tasted, such as a small cup.

   A flight of tasters was served to the people who would vote on the next soda flavor to be released.

2. Someone who tastes something; especially, either (1) to check its quality (in food science, winemaking, etc.) or (2) as a security measure to prevent assassination of a protectee.

   Hypernym: tester

   Big companies such as P&G or Kraft Heinz employ or contract with professional tasters who help with product development.

   Being a cook for protectees also entails being a taster for them.

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     Thy tutor be thy taster, ere thou eat

3. (zoology) A kind of zooid situated on the polyp-stem of certain Siphonophorae, resembling the feeding zooids, but destitute of mouths.
4. A sample of something bigger or grander intended for future use.

   The Kraft Heinz exhibit at the trade fair was a taster of new snack products set to hit the market soon.

   The Samsung exhibit at the trade fair was a taster of new consumer electronic products set to hit the market soon.

5. A person who is, by genetic makeup, able to taste phenylthiocarbamide.

   Antonym: nontaster

Derived terms

• ale-taster
• supertaster
• winetaster

 

Related terms

• tastebuds
• tasting (noun)
• winetasting (noun)

 

Translations

That in which, or by which, anything is tasted

Person who tastes wine etc.

• Arabic: مُتَذَوِّق m (mutaḏawwiq)
• Bulgarian: дегустатор m (degustator)
• Finnish: maistaja (fi)
• French: goûteur (fr) m, goûteuse (fr) f
• Galician: catador (gl)
• Hungarian: kóstoló (hu)
• Irish: blastóir m
• Manx: blassteyder m
• Polish: degustator (pl) m, degustatorka f

Anagrams

• Rattes, Satter, Strate, Treats, at rest, atters, ratest, rattes, stater, tarest, taters, tetras, treats

Danish

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

taster

1. indefinite plural of tast

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

taster

1. present of taste

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French taster, from a late Vulgar Latin *tastāre, from contraction of *taxitāre, iterative of Late Latin taxāre, present active infinitive of taxō, from Classical Latin tangō (“I touch”). Compare Catalan and Occitan tastar, Italian tastare.

Verb

taster

1. to grope; to feel, touch
2. to taste

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of taster

infinitive	simple	taster
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	tastant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		tasté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	taste	tastes	taste	tastons	tastez	tastent
	imperfect	tastois, tastoys	tastois, tastoys	tastoit, tastoyt	tastions, tastyons	tastiez, tastyez	tastoient, tastoyent
	past historic	tasta	tastas	tasta	tastasmes	tastastes	tasterent
	future	tasterai, tasteray	tasteras	tastera	tasterons	tasterez	tasteront
	conditional	tasterois, tasteroys	tasterois, tasteroys	tasteroit, tasteroyt	tasterions, tasteryons	tasteriez, tasteryez	tasteroient, tasteroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	taste	tastes	taste	tastons	tastez	tastent
	imperfect	tastasse	tastasses	tastast	tastassions	tastassiez	tastassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	taste	—	tastons	tastez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Derived terms

• tasteur
• tastonner

Descendants

• French: tâter

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

taster m

1. indefinite plural of tast

Verb

taster

1. present of taste

Old French

Etymology

From a late Vulgar Latin *tastāre, from contraction of *taxitāre, iterative of Late Latin taxāre, present active infinitive of taxō, from Classical Latin tangō (“I touch”). Compare Catalan and Occitan tastar, Italian tastare.

Verb

taster

1. to taste
2. to touch
3. to hit; to strike

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-sts, *-stt are modified to z, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of taster (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		taster			avoir tasté
gerund		en tastant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		tastant
past participle		tasté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	tast	tastes	taste	tastons	tastez	tastent
	imperfect	tastoie, tasteie, tastoe, tasteve	tastoies, tasteies, tastoes, tasteves	tastoit, tasteit, tastot, tasteve	tastiiens, tastiens	tastiiez, tastiez	tastoient, tasteient, tastoent, tastevent
	preterite	tastai	tastas	tasta	tastames	tastastes	tasterent
	future	tasterai	tasteras	tastera	tasterons	tasteroiz, tastereiz, tasterez	tasteront
	conditional	tasteroie, tastereie	tasteroies, tastereies	tasteroit, tastereit	tasteriiens, tasteriens	tasteriiez, tasteriez	tasteroient, tastereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	tast	taz	tast	tastons	tastez	tastent
	imperfect	tastasse	tastasses	tastast	tastissons, tastissiens	tastissoiz, tastissez, tastissiez	tastassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	taste	—	tastons	tastez	—

Synonyms

• (to hit, to strike): ferir, fraper

Descendants

• → English: taste
• French: tâter

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (taster)