savour means an aroma or smell. It carries an Arena rating of 2006, earned across 28 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, savour ranks #460 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #984 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,200 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,529 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
savour is pronounced /ˈseɪvə/.
Why “savour” is a great word
The distinct, lingering quality of a taste or smell, especially one that is pleasantly appreciated. From Middle English *savour*, from Anglo-Norman and Old French *saveur, savor*, from Latin *sapor* ("taste, flavor"), from *sapere* ("to taste, have flavor"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-, *sep- ("to taste, try out"), first recorded in English c. 1200. Unlike “flavor,” which merely denotes the sensory impression, or “relish,” which emphasizes eager gusto, to savour is to attend deliberately to a thing’s essence. It is the slow dissolving of dark chocolate on the tongue, the complex bouquet released from a decanted wine, the faint, smoky trace left in the air after a candle is snuffed—a quiet practice of being present to the world as it fades.
Etymology
From Middle English savour, from Anglo-Norman saveur, savor, savour, and Old French saveur, savor, savour (modern French saveur), from Latin sapor, from sapiō (“to taste of (something); to have a flavour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-, *sep- (“to taste; to try out”)) + -or (suffix forming third-declension masculine abstract nouns). Doublet of sapor.
noun
- An aroma or smell.
- The quality which the sense of taste detects; also (countable), a specific flavour or taste, especially one different from the predominant one.
- The quality which the sense of taste detects; also (countable), a specific flavour or taste, especially one different from the predominant one.; An appealing or appetizing flavour, especially one which is savoury or strong.
- A distinctive sensation like a flavour or taste, or an aroma or smell.
- A particular quality, especially a small amount of it; a hint or trace of something.
- A quality which is appealing or enjoyable; merit, value.
- A reputation.
- Enjoyment or taste for something; appreciation; pleasure; relish; (countable) an instance of this.e.g.“Gerald shook his head in the savour of triumph.” — 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 5, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 105:
- Knowledge; understanding.
verb
- To detect (a flavour or taste, or food or drink); to taste; specifically, to enjoy or linger on (a flavour or taste, or food and drink); to relish.e.g.“He closed his eyes so he could really savour his dessert.”
- To give (food or drink) flavour; to flavour, to season.e.g.“What Flesh is fitting for Man to Eat, / Until our Herbs do savour the Meat?” — 1719, Samuel Wilde, “[The Gard’ners Song.] The Second Part.”, in Thomas d’Urfey, compiler, Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive; […], volume IV, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], publ
- To detect (an aroma or smell, especially an appealing one); to smell.
- To enjoy (something) deeply or in a lingering manner; to appreciate, to delight in, to relish.
- To find (something) appealing; to appreciate, to like.
- To possess (a particular, often negative, quality), especially a small amount of it; to be redolent or suggestive of (something).
- To be appealing to (a person, the senses, etc.).
- To experience, perceive, or understand (something).
- To give (something) a particular quality; to imbue with.
- To give (something) an aroma or smell.
- Followed by out: to detect or find (something).
- To have a suspicion of (something).
- Of a thing: to give off a (specified) aroma or smell.
- Of food or drink: to have a specified (especially appealing) flavour or taste.
- To possess a particular (often negative) quality, especially a small amount of it; to be redolent or suggestive of.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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