English
taster
Taster comes from Middle English taster.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500taster
- Englishearliest quotation 1693same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500taster
- Englishearliest quotation 1693same form
Earliest quotation: 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, [The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr: “Thy tutor be thy taster, ere thou eat”.
Formed from taste + -er
Latin taxō ‘to feel, touch sharply’
Vulgar Latin *taxitāre
Vulgar Latin *tastāre ‘to touch or feel’
Old French taster ‘to taste; to touch’
Middle English tasten ‘to taste’
English taste
Every English word from Middle English taster
Today it means
noun An object in which, or by which, food or drink is tasted, such as a small cup or spoon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English taster / taster