taster

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

• IPA^(key): /teɪstɚ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪstə(ɹ)

taster (plural tasters)

1. An object in which, or by which, food or drink is tasted, for example a dram cup
2. Someone who tastes something, especially food, wine etc., for quality.
   • 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 exhibition was a taster of products set to hit the market.

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

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

taster

1. indefinite plural of tast

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

taster

1. present of taste

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.

taster

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

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

• tasteur
• tastonner

• French: tâter

taster m

1. indefinite plural of tast

taster

1. present of taste

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.

taster

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

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.

• (to hit, to strike): ferir, fraper

• → English: taste
• French: tâter

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