prelibation

American  

[pree-lahy-bey-shuhn] / ˌpri laɪˈbeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a foretaste.

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prelibation British  

/ ˌpriːlaɪˈbeɪʃən /

noun

1. rare an advance taste or sample; foretaste

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Etymology

Origin of prelibation

1520–30; < Late Latin praelībātiōn- (stem of praelībātiō ) a foretaste, anticipation, equivalent to praelībāt ( us ) (past participle of praelībāre to taste beforehand) + -iōn- -ion. See pre-, libation

Example Sentences

There is Paradise that fears   No forfeiture, and of its fruits He sends   Large prelibation oft to saints below.

From The Task and Other Poems by Cowper, William

Berkeley began his Siris with tar-water; but what can English readers be expected to make of Gukguk by way of prelibation to your nectar and tokay?

From Life of John Sterling by Carlyle, Thomas

Here let me observe, that for some time we had experienced the most uncomfortable weather as a prelibation of our future sufferings.

From Life and Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon by Filson, John

I leave all this to the successor I pointed out in the commencement of this work, and satisfy myself merely with the prelibation, the right of the first comer to every sacrifice.

From The Physiology of Taste by Robinson, Fayette

She experienced, through the play of her imagination upon this new and startling conception of life, an intoxicating prelibation of freedom such as she had never dreamed to savour.

From Red Masquerade by Vance, Louis Joseph