gourmet

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɡʊɹˈmeɪ/ UK /ˈɡʊəmeɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #14859

Meanings

1

adj
Of food: high in quality and carefully prepared.

We went to the gourmet shop to find rare ingredients for the recipe.
2

noun
A person who knows a lot about good food and drink and enjoys them.

As a true gourmet, he could name every spice in the dish.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a person who knows a lot... foodieepicurean

Word family

Forms gourmets

Etymology

Borrowed from French gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from groume, grommes (“wine-taster, manservant”), apparently from Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”), from Old English *grōm (“male child, boy, youth”), akin to Old English grōwan (“to grow”). Cognate of Spanish grumete and Catalan grumet. More at groom.

gourmet French groumet Old French grom Middle English *grōm Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

# gourmet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡʊɹˈmeɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡʊəmeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 14859

## Meanings
1. Of food: high in quality and carefully prepared.
2. A person who knows a lot about good food and drink and enjoys them.

## Examples
- We went to the gourmet shop to find rare ingredients for the recipe.
- As a true gourmet, he could name every spice in the dish.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gourmet
- Root: groumet
- Root: grom
- Root: *grōm

## Etymology
Borrowed from French gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from groume, grommes (“wine-taster, manservant”), apparently from Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”), from Old English *grōm (“male child, boy, youth”), akin to Old English grōwan (“to grow”). Cognate of Spanish grumete and Catalan grumet. More at groom.

## AI Etymology
Gourmet is borrowed from French gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet (“wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant”) from groume, grommes (“wine-taster, manservant”), apparently from Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”), from Old English *grōm (“male child, boy, youth”), akin to Old English grōwan (“to grow”). Cognate of Spanish grumete and Catalan grumet. More at groom. In present-day use, it can mean of food: high in quality and carefully prepared, or a person who knows a lot about good food and drink and enjoys them.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

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