smake

English

Etymology

From Middle English smaken (“to smack, taste”), partly from Old English smacian (“to smack, pat, caress”) and partly from Middle English smake, smac (“smack, taste, flavour”), from Old English smæc, smæcc (“taste, flavour”). Cognate with Scots smak (“to taste, scent, smell”), See Norwegian smak (“taste”). More at smack, smatch.

Verb

1. (transitive) To smack; taste.
   • 1882, Bricktop, The trip of the Sardine Club:

     Even Bill Bitters could not find it in his heart to say a word against this moisture, and he actually smaked his lips, although he turned away lest someone should see him do it.

   • 1893, Margaret Sidney, Five little Peppers Midway:

     Now, that's good," smaking his lips in a pleased way.

   • 1918, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.), Locomotive engineers journal:

     He smaked his lips in anticipation of the coming treat.

   • 1922, Lucy Fox Robins Lang, Mrs. Lucy Robins, War Shadows:

     It is not a nice place to look at, rough you know,” he smiled, and his right eye winked at Frayne: “But the corned beef and cabbage, and the waffles. Mm!” He smaked his lips with desire.

   • 2001, James Joyce, Dubliners:

     "And what about the address to the King?" said Mr. Lyons, after drinking and smaking his lips.

Noun

smake (plural smakes)

1. A smack; taste; scent.
   • 1733, Ebenezer Erskine, The Stone Rejected by the Builders:

     One of the great sources of this evil was, that if a man had beeen^[sic] trained up at the feet of Gamaliel for a few years, and got a smake of the learning then in vogue, it was enough in their opinion to qualify him for being a builder in the house of God […]

   • 1856, Edward Augustus Bond, Giles Fletcher, Sir Jerome Horsey, Russia at the close of the sixteenth century:

     A smake there is in other things, but small purpose.

Anagrams

• Masek, Samek, kames, makes, meaks, samek

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Dutch

Verb

smake

1. (deprecated template usage) (archaic) singular present subjunctive of smaken

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “This has obvious cognates, but why does Middle Dutch have a single k?”)

Noun

smāke m or f

1. taste, act of tasting
2. taste, flavour

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: smaak
  • → Limburgish: smaak

Further reading

• “smake”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “smake”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• smak

Etymology

From smaken (“to taste”) from smak "a taste, flavor" from Old English smæc (“taste, smack”). More at smack.

Noun

smake

1. taste
2. flavor

Derived terms

• smakeles, smakkeles

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German Low German smaken

Verb

smake (imperative smak, present tense smaker, simple past smakte, past participle smakt, present participle smakende)

1. to taste (something)
2. to smatch, smake , smack.

Derived terms

• smakebit

Related terms

• smak (noun)

References

• “smake” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

smake (present tense smakar or smaker, past tense smaka or smakte, past participle smaka or smakt, present participle smakande, imperative smak)

1. Alternative form of smaka