Gourmet

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /É¡oʊɹˈmeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Origin

1820 Borrowing from fr {{2}} gourmet, from Middle French gourmet, from Old French groumet ("wine broker, valet in charge of wines, servant") from Old French grommes ("manservant"), of origin, akin to 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.

Full definition of gourmet

Adjective

1. (of food) fineGourmet coffee is just like regular coffee, only better.We need to go to the gourmet grocery store to get the exotic ingredients for this recipe.

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

Noun

1. A connoisseur in eating and drinking, someone who takes their food considerably more seriously than most.

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.

Synonyms

• foodie