Word of The Day for Friday, July 1, 2011

sapid

sap•id (SAP-id)  adj

Definition:
1. perceptible to the sense of taste; having flavor
2. having a strong pleasant flavor; savory
3. pleasing to the mind; engaging
sapidity, sapidness noun

Origin:
1623; from L. sapidus “savory,” from sapere "to taste, have taste, be wise," from PIE base *sep- "to taste, perceive"

Related:
Synonyms: savory, palatable, tasty, delectable, delicious, ambrosial, appetizing
Related Words: sapient, insipid, sage, savant, savvy

Sentence Examples:
• Measured by any standard commensurate to his remarkable faculties, Pattison's life would be generally regarded as pale, negative, and ineffectual. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that he had a certain singular quality about him that made his society more interesting, more piquant, and more sapid than that of many men of a far wider importance and more commanding achievement. - Critical Miscellanies, John Morley

• Butter-soft and sapid, Limburger has brought gustatory pleasure to millions of hardy gastronomes since it came to light in the province of Lüttich in Belgium. - The Complete Book of Cheese, Robert Carlton Brown

• "What is a sardine?" was a question much before the Courts some few years ago, not unprofitably for certain gentlemen wearing silk, and the correct solution I never heard; but I can supply, from personal observation, one answer to the query, and that is, "An essential ingredient in London humour." For without this small but sapid fish—whatever he may really be, whether denizen of the Sardinian sea, immature Cornish pilchard, or mere plebeian sprat well oiled—numbers of our fellow-men and fellow-women, with all the will in the world, might never raise a laugh. - Punch, or the London Charivari, 1919

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

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