gourmet

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 groume, grommes (“wine-taster, manservant”), apparently from Middle English grom, grome (“boy, valet, servant”), from Old English *grōma (“male child, boy, youth”), akin to Old English grōwan (“to grow”). More at groom.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɡʊɹˈmeɪ/, /ˈɡʊɹmeɪ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʊəmeɪ/, /ˈɡɔːmeɪ/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• 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

• artisanal

Translations

Translations

Bulgarian: деликатесен (delikatesen) Dutch: voor fijnproevers, culinair (nl) Finnish: gourmet (fi), gurmee French: gastronomique (fr) German: Feinschmecker-, Genießer-, Feinkost- Portuguese: gourmet (pt) Swedish: gourmet-, gourmé-

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 of food.

Synonyms

• foodie
• gourmand

Translations

gourmet; a person who appreciates good food

Bulgarian: чревоугодник (bg) m (črevougodnik) Chinese: Mandarin: 美食家 (zh) (měishíjiā), 美食者 (měishízhě) Czech: labužník (cs) m, gurmán (cs) m Dutch: gastronoom (nl) m, gastronome (nl) f, fijnproever (nl) m, fijnproefster f, kenner van de keuken m Finnish: herkuttelija (fi), herkkusuu (fi), gurmandi French: gourmet (fr) m, gastronome (fr), fine gueule (fr), dégustateur (fr) m, gourmand (fr) m, gourmande (fr) f Georgian: გურმანი (gurmani) German: Feinschmecker (de) m, Feinschmeckerin (de) f, Gourmet (de) m, Genießer (de) m Greek: καλοφαγάς (el) m (kalofagás) Ancient: ὀψοφάγος m (opsophágos) Hungarian: ínyenc (hu) Italian: buongustaio (it) Japanese: 食通 (shokutsū), 美食家 (bishoku-ka), グルメ (ja) (gurume) Norwegian: Bokmål: feinschmecker m, matskjønner m, gastronom m, gourmet m Nynorsk: finsmakar m, matskjønar m, gastronom m, gourmet m Polish: smakosz (pl) m Portuguese: gourmet (pt) m or f, gastrónomo m (Portugal), gastrônomo m (Brazil) Russian: гурма́н (ru) m (gurmán), гастроно́м (ru) m (gastronóm), ла́комка (ru) m or f (lákomka) Serbo-Croatian: fàjnšmeker (sh) m Spanish: gastrónomo, sibarita (es), gourmet (es), goloso (es) m Swedish: finsmakare (sv) c, matkännare c, gastronom (sv) c, läckergom (sv) c, gourmet (sv) c, gourmé (sv) c Thai: นักกิน (nák-gin) Turkish: gurme (tr), tatbilir (tr) Ukrainian: гурма́н m (hurmán), гурма́нка f (hurmánka)

See also

• gourmand
• haute cuisine

---

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

• gourmetten
• gourmetpan
• gourmetset

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

gourmet

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

---

Finnish

Etymology

From French gourmet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡurmeː/, [ˈɡurme̞ː]

Adjective

gourmet

1. Alternative form of gurmee

Declension

Inflection of gourmet (Kotus type 22/parfait, no gradation)
nominative		gourmet	gourmet’t
genitive		gourmet’n	gourmet’iden gourmet’itten
partitive		gourmet’ta	gourmet’ita
illative		gourmet’hen	gourmet’ihin
		singular	plural
nominative		gourmet	gourmet’t
accusative	nom.	gourmet	gourmet’t
	gen.	gourmet’n
genitive		gourmet’n	gourmet’iden gourmet’itten
partitive		gourmet’ta	gourmet’ita
inessive		gourmet’ssa	gourmet’issa
elative		gourmet’sta	gourmet’ista
illative		gourmet’hen	gourmet’ihin
adessive		gourmet’lla	gourmet’illa
ablative		gourmet’lta	gourmet’ilta
allative		gourmet’lle	gourmet’ille
essive		gourmet’na	gourmet’ina
translative		gourmet’ksi	gourmet’iksi
instructive		—	gourmet’in
abessive		gourmet’tta	gourmet’itta
comitative		—	gourmet’ine

Possessive forms of gourmet (type parfait)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	gourmet’ni	gourmet’mme
2nd person	gourmet’si	gourmet’nne
3rd person	gourmet’nsa

Noun

gourmet

1. Alternative form of gurmee

Declension

Inflection of gourmet (Kotus type 22/parfait, no gradation)
nominative		gourmet	gourmet’t
genitive		gourmet’n	gourmet’iden gourmet’itten
partitive		gourmet’ta	gourmet’ita
illative		gourmet’hen	gourmet’ihin
		singular	plural
nominative		gourmet	gourmet’t
accusative	nom.	gourmet	gourmet’t
	gen.	gourmet’n
genitive		gourmet’n	gourmet’iden gourmet’itten
partitive		gourmet’ta	gourmet’ita
inessive		gourmet’ssa	gourmet’issa
elative		gourmet’sta	gourmet’ista
illative		gourmet’hen	gourmet’ihin
adessive		gourmet’lla	gourmet’illa
ablative		gourmet’lta	gourmet’ilta
allative		gourmet’lle	gourmet’ille
essive		gourmet’na	gourmet’ina
translative		gourmet’ksi	gourmet’iksi
instructive		—	gourmet’in
abessive		gourmet’tta	gourmet’itta
comitative		—	gourmet’ineen

Possessive forms of gourmet (type parfait)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	gourmet’ni	gourmet’mme
2nd person	gourmet’si	gourmet’nne
3rd person	gourmet’nsa

---

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/

• Audio

  (file)

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

Descendants

• → Danish: gourmet
• → Dutch: gourmet
• → English: gourmet
• → German: Gourmet
• → Japanese: グルメ (gurume)
• → Italian: gourmet
• → Portuguese: gourmet
• → Spanish: gourmet
• → Turkish: gurme

Further reading

• “gourmet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French gourmet.

Noun

gourmet m or f by sense (invariable)

1. gourmet

Further reading

• gourmet in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

---

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• gurmê (rare)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French gourmet.

Adjective

gourmet (invariable)

1. (of food) gourmet; fine

Noun

gourmet m or f by sense (plural gourmets)

1. gourmet (a person who appreciates good food)

Further reading

• “gourmet” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

---

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French gourmet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuɾˈmet/ [ɡuɾˈmet̪]
  • Rhymes: -et
• IPA^(key): /ɡuɾˈme/ [ɡuɾˈme]
  • Rhymes: -e

Adjective

gourmet (plural gourmets)

1. gourmet

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “gourmet”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

---

Swedish

Noun

gourmet c

1. someone to whom good food is very important; a gourmet

   Synonyms: (less common) gourmé, läckergom

Declension

Declension of gourmet
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	gourmet	gourmeten	gourmeter	gourmeterna
Genitive	gourmets	gourmetens	gourmeters	gourmeternas

See also

• finsmakare
• gourmand

References

• gourmet in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• gourmet in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• gourmet in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)