garša

See also: garsa, gārša, and garšā

Latvian

Etymology

From an old verb *gart (to heat, to grow hot) ( > “to steam”; cf. garot (to steam)), from the same stem as gars (spirit; vapor, steam) and gards (delicious) (q.v.), with an extra suffix -tya: *gar-tya- > garša. The original meaning was probably “steaming, steam,” from which “sharp, pungent smell, (smoke) stink” (a meaning still attested in the 1870's) > “sharp, hot taste” > “taste (in general).” Only by the end of the 19th century was this word's meaning restricted to “taste” alone. (A minority opinion suggests that garša is actually derived from gards (delicious), with an unexpected š instead of the regular ž (< *d) because of the influence of the variant smarša of smarža (smell, odor).)[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɡâɾʃa]
(file)

Noun

garša f (4th declension)

  1. (sense) taste (the capacity to perceive flavors)
    garšas nervitaste, gustatory nerves
    par abinieku ožu, tāpat kā par to garšu, nav vēl īstas skaidrībasabout the (senses of) smell and taste of amphibians, there is no real explanation (i.e., little is known) yet
  2. taste, flavor (the sensation created by certain substances in the mouth: salty, bitter, sweet, acid)
    salda, rūgta garšasweet, bitter taste
    patīkama garšapleasant taste
    maizes, medus garšabread, honey taste
    sajust nelabu garšu mutēto feel a bad taste in the mouth
    ēst ar garšuto eat with pleasure (lit. with taste)
    viela bez smakas un bez garšasa substance without smell and without taste
    pēc sēklas garšas atšķir saldās un rūgtās mandelesby the taste of the seeds one distinguishes the sweet from the bitter almonds
    jaunas garšas meklējoton the quest for new flavors
  3. (dated, nowadays mostly gaume, q.v.) taste (aesthetic and cultural discernment, the sense of what is aesthetically or culturally better)
    viņš bija cilvēks pēc Hildegardis kundzes garšashe was a person by (= who pleased) Mrs Hildegards' taste

Declension

Synonyms

See also

References

  1. Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), garša”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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