Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TASTE, n.

1. The act of tasting; gustation. Milton.
2. A particular sensation excited in an animal by the application of a substance to the tongue, the proper organ; as, the taste of an orange or an apple; a bitter taste; an acid taste; a sweet taste.
3. The sense by which we perceive the relish of a thing. This sense appears to reside in the tongue or its papillæ. Men have a great variety of tastes. In the influenza of 1790, the taste, for some days, was entirely extinguished.
4. Intellectual relish; as, he had no taste of true glory. Addison. I have no taste / Of popular applause. Dryden. Note. In this use, the word is now followed by for. “He had no taste for glory.” When followed by of, the sense is ambiguous, or rather it denotes experience, trial.
5. Judgment; discernment; nice perception, or the power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles lettres. Taste is not wholly the gift of nature, nor wholly the effect of art. It depends much on culture. We say, a good taste, or a fine taste. Gerard.
6. Style; manner, with respect to what is pleasing; as, a poem or music composed in good taste. Cyc.
7. Essay; trial; experiment. [Not in use.] Shak.
8. A small portion given as a specimen.
9. A bit; a little piece tasted or eaten.