gustatory

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 12, 2025 is: gustatory GUSS-tuh-tor-ee adjective Gustatory describes things that are related to or associated with eating or the sense of taste. // The deli has been widely praised for its astonishing variety of gustatory delights. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gustatory) Examples: "For those who have never experienced the gustatory pleasure, these cream puffs consist of freshly baked pastry shells generously covered with powdered sugar and bloated with chilled vanilla pudding that has been pumped into them." — Carl Hamilton, The Cecil Whig (Elkton, Maryland), 12 Feb. 2025 Did you know? Gustatory is a member of a finite set of words that describe the senses with which we encounter our world, the other members being [visual](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visual), [aural](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aural), [olfactory](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/olfactory), and [tactile](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactile). Like its peers, gustatory has its roots in Latin—in this case, the Latin word gustare, meaning "to taste." Gustare is a direct ancestor of gustatory, [gustation](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gustation), meaning "the act or sensation of tasting," and [degustation](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/degustation), meaning "the action or an instance of tasting especially in a series of small portions." More distant relatives of gustare include [choose](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/choose) and [disgust](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disgust).