• epicure •
Printable Version Pronunciation: e-pê-kyur • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person with discriminating taste, especially in food or wine.
Notes: Be careful of the various near synonyms of this good word. A gourmet is a connoisseur of food and drink, someone who understands it, while the tastes of a gourmand are more like those of a glutton. An epicure is someone who appreciates the creativity of well-prepared food and drink. A gastronome is someone who studies cuisine, though, like the gourmet, also enjoys it very much. The adjective derived from this Good Word is epicurean [e-pê-kyur-i-ên], as in a table of epicurean delights.
In Play: Epicures are generally associated with food and drink: "Biff Stroganoff's epicurean tastes keep him away from fast-food restaurants." However, the only fundamental qualification for an epicure is intelligent enjoyment of creativity, so we can easily put this word in play like this: "Sidney Couch is an epicure of office gossip; only the juiciest interests him." The alphaDictionary Good Word series is designed for word epicures. We hope you find it to your taste.
Word History: Middle English borrowed the word from Old French gorgias "finely dressed, fashionable". Here we have to make a little hop and assume that the French word originally referred to a necklace or simply a phrase "dressed to the neck". Old French gorge meant "bosom, throat," so "something adorning the throat" is not far-fetched. Now we do have to step in something squishy; we must assume that Latin gurges "whirlpool, gorge" took on a figurative sense of "swallow" and/or "throat" in Late Latin. This would explain the French meaning of gorge "throat, breast, gorge". I think the comparison of food disappearing down the throat with any object disappearing in a whirlpool justifies suspicions that today's Good Word derives from the Latin word for "whirlpool", but this explanation leaves much to be desired. (We owe a note of gratitude to the ever gorgeous Katy Brezger for suggesting today's Good Word some time ago.)
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