Flavor

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfleɪvə/

Definitions

1. The unique sensory experience provided by the combination of taste and aroma in food or drink is referred to as the essence of its quality
2. The combined sensation of taste and smell that determines the character of what is eaten or drunk ; a distinctive attribute or style that defines the nature or appeal of something
3. The sensory impression created by the mixture of gustatory and olfactory stimuli in consumables ; a unique trait or feature that gives something its particular identity or appeal

Etymology: The English word began life as a word for smell, not taste. In Middle English, "flavour" meant an odour, usually a pleasing one, and it was borrowed from Old French "flaour", which carried the same sense. Its ancestor was a Vulgar Latin term "flātor", meaning something like "that which blows", since a scent is something carried on the air. That Latin "flātor" came from "flāre", "to blow or puff", the same verb that gives English words like inflate. Behind it lies a very old Indo-European root for blowing, which also gave us "blow" itself. "Flavour" and "blow" are therefore doublets, two words sharing one ancestor but reaching English by different routes. The shift from smell to taste happened because flavour is largely what we detect through the nose while eating. The word's sense gradually narrowed to the taste of food, and the American spelling "flavor" is simply the form that the English-speaking world later adopted in place of the British "flavour".

Synonyms: taste, savor, relish, spice, seasoning

Antonyms: blandness, dullness, tastelessness