savour

/ ˈseɪvə /

noun

1. the quality in a substance that is perceived by the sense of taste or smell
2. a specific taste or smell

   the savour of lime

3. a slight but distinctive quality or trace
4. the power to excite interest

   the savour of wit has been lost

5. archaic.
   reputation

verb

1. introften foll byof to possess the taste or smell (of)
2. introften foll byof to have a suggestion (of)
3. tr to give a taste to; season
4. tr to taste or smell, esp appreciatively
5. tr to relish or enjoy

Derived Forms

• ˈsavorous, adjective
• ˈsavourless, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of savour¹

C13: from Old French savour, from Latin sapor taste, from sapere to taste

Example Sentences

Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician.

From Project Gutenberg

These poems, of a savour so exquisitely strange, cost him no more than any badly rhymed commonplace.

From Project Gutenberg

Some fruit was boiling on a stove, giving out a fragrant savour, and Elise's eye was on it mechanically.

From Project Gutenberg

Brother Jackson made a motion with his mouth, as though he were tasting some pleasant savour.

From Project Gutenberg

And as for emotions—such as anger, or religion, or fear—he would attempt none whose savour he had not tasted for himself.

From Project Gutenberg