Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A specific taste or smell.
  • noun The quality of something that is perceived as taste or smell.
  • noun A distinctive quality or characteristic.
  • intransitive verb To have a particular taste or smell.
  • intransitive verb To exhibit a specified quality or characteristic; smack.
  • intransitive verb To taste or smell, especially with pleasure.
  • intransitive verb To appreciate fully; enjoy or relish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To taste or smell; have a taste, flavor, or odor (of some particular kind or quality).
  • To have a bad odor; stink.
  • To have or exhibit a peculiar quality or characteristic; partake of the nature; smack: followed by of: as, his answers savor of insolence.
  • To perceive by taste or smell; smell; hence, to discern; note; perceive.
  • To exhibit the characteristics of; partake of the nature of; indicate the presence of; have the flavor or quality of.
  • To care for; relish; take pleasure in; enjoy; like.
  • To please; give pleasure or satisfaction to; suit.
  • To give savor or flavor to; season.
  • noun Taste; flavor; relish; power or quality that affects the palate: as, food with a pleasant savor.
  • noun Odor; smell.
  • noun An odorous substance; a perfume.
  • noun Characteristic property; distinctive flavor or quality.
  • noun Name; repute; reputation; character.
  • noun Sense of smell; power to scent or perceive.
  • noun Pleasure; delight.
  • noun Synonyms Flavor, Smack, etc. See taste.
  • noun Scent, Fragrance, etc. See smell.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To have a particular smell or taste; -- with of.
  • intransitive verb To partake of the quality or nature; to indicate the presence or influence; to smack; -- with of.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To use the sense of taste.
  • transitive verb obsolete To perceive by the smell or the taste; hence, to perceive; to note.
  • transitive verb rare To have the flavor or quality of; to indicate the presence of.
  • transitive verb rare To taste or smell with pleasure; to delight in; to relish; to like; to favor.
  • noun That property of a thing which affects the organs of taste or smell; taste and odor; flavor; relish; scent.
  • noun Hence, specific flavor or quality; characteristic property; distinctive temper, tinge, taint, and the like.
  • noun rare Sense of smell; power to scent, or trace by scent.
  • noun obsolete Pleasure; delight; attractiveness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to possess a particular taste or smell, or a distinctive quality
  • verb to appreciate, enjoy or relish something
  • noun the specific taste or smell of something
  • noun a distinctive sensation

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb give taste to
  • verb taste appreciatively
  • noun the taste experience when a savoury condiment is taken into the mouth
  • verb derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in
  • verb have flavor; taste of something

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English savour, from Old French, from Latin sapor, from sapere, to taste; see sep- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French savourer, from Late Latin sapōrāre, present active infinitive of sapōrō, from sapor ("taste, flavor"), from sapiō ("taste of, have a flavor of").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French savour, from Latin sapor ("taste, flavor"), from sapiō ("taste of, have a flavor of").

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Examples

  • Though the film never amounts to much, there are a number of wry, memorable moments to savor from the movie.

    EXTRACT Blu-ray Review – Collider.com 2010

  • Bad savor is endurable in oil, but not in what professes to be, and is compounded by the perfumer ( "apothecary") for, fragrance.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • The English word was influenced by the unrelated word savor, the French word shows the addition of the diminutive suffix, - ette, the Italian word was confused with santo, ` sacred, 'and the Spanish word, coming from Latin influenced by Arabic, preserves the Arabic definite article, a (l) -.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol V No 4 1984

  • "The slowness of communication" is a phrase to savor.

    Instant Communication Can Have Bad Consequences 2011

  • Still, night after beer-soaked night, musicians and fans packed inside to savor a kaleidoscope of sound.

    China's Little Punk Rock Club That Could Ron Gluckman 2012

  • But the combination of those tough economic decisions that led to fiscal discipline, that led to tighter control on the budget, plus all the other things that began working well for our economy -- the monetary policy is clearly one of them -- have combined to give the American people a moment to savor, which is a federal budget surplus, which is something we haven't been talking about for well over a generation.

    Press Briefing By Mike Mccurry ITY National Archives 1998

  • It could never be the same, and you kind of savor it and realize how lucky you were.

    Frank Herzog joins Redskins alumni Dan Steinberg 2010

  • Locals come to lounge around the many low-lit tables that fill the sprawling outdoor space at Sevva (a play on the word "savor"), perched atop the penthouse of the Princes Building and decked out with work from London's Fine Art Gallery.

    Hong Kong Bars With The Best Views 2010

  • Locals come to lounge around the many low-lit tables that fill the sprawling outdoor space at Sevva (a play on the word "savor"), perched atop the penthouse of the Princes Building and decked out with work from London's Fine Art Gallery.

    Hong Kong Bars With The Best Views 2010

  • So he retorts, "I was letting you savor your news program," getting a laugh out of his use of the word "savor" and her repetition of it.

    Michael Giltz: Cannes 2009 Day Nine: Parents, Palestinians and Panic 2009

Comments

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  • "Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day." --EB White

    January 1, 2011

  • When we read, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8), we can be sure that God wants us to “savor” His presence. He allows us to gain intimate and satisfying knowledge of Him. And when we meditate on His Word. ODB April 5, 2011.

    April 5, 2011