gourmet

See also: Gourmet

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from Old French grommes (“manservant”), of Germanic origin, akin to Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”), of unknown origin, perhaps from Old English *grōma (“male child, boy, youth”) from Old English grōwan (“to grow”). More at groom.

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ɡʊɹˈmeɪ/, /ˈɡʊɹmeɪ/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡʊəmeɪ/, /ˈɡɔːmeɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Adjective

gourmet (not comparable)

  1. (of food and drink) Fine; of superior quality. [from 1820]
    We need to go to the gourmet grocery store to get the exotic ingredients for this recipe.
    The restaurant offered gourmet coffee and cigars after the meal.

Usage notes

Gourmet has become somewhat debased by marketing usage, and is considered by some a pretentious middlebrow term. Such users tend to prefer terms such as artisanal (emphasizing the craft) for fine food.

Coordinate terms

Translations

Noun

gourmet (plural gourmets)

  1. A connoisseur in eating and drinking; someone who takes their food seriously.

Usage notes

Gourmet emphasizes interest in quality of food and enjoyment of eating, sometimes to an obsessive degree: someone who “lives to eat rather than eating to live”. By contrast, a gourmand is someone more interested in quantity of food than quality.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɣuːrˈmɛt/, /ɡuːrˈmɛt/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French gourmet.

Noun

gourmet m (plural gourmets, diminutive gourmetje n)

  1. a person of refined palate for food and drink, a gourmet, a foodie
  2. a kind of festive meal, similar to raclette or Chinese hot pot, prepared at the table by the diners in individual pots heated by a raclette grill
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See etymology on the main entry.

Verb

gourmet

  1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of gourmetten
  2. imperative of gourmetten

French

Etymology

Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from Old French grommes (“manservant”), from Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”) of unknown origin, perhaps from Old English *grōma (“male child, boy, youth”) from Old English grōwan (“to grow”). More at groom.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡuʁ.mɛ/

Noun

gourmet m (plural gourmets)

  1. (of wines) a wine expert, especially one who is adept at determining the label, date, and sundry other qualities solely by smatch
  2. (more commonly) a culinary connoisseur, gourmet

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

French

Noun

gourmet m, f (invariable)

  1. gourmet

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Adjective

gourmet (plural gourmet, comparable)

  1. (of food) gourmet; fine

Noun

gourmet m, f (plural gourmets)

  1. gourmet (a person who appreciates good food)

Spanish

Adjective

gourmet (plural gourmets)

  1. gourmet
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