ageusia (2009-09-08)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: [ê-'gu-see-yê]

Definition: Loss of the sense of taste, gustatory anesthesia, specifically, the loss of the ability to distinguish sweet, sour, bitter, or salty (the only tastes the human palate recognizes; the palettes of flavors that define our various cuisines are overwhelmingly based on the olfactory sense—smell).

Usage: It is well to know the medical term but we oppose proprietary terminology in any profession. Let's release this word on the public at large. If "taste" may be used metaphorically, so may this word: "Justin's informal tastes in dress were driven by such a fashion ageusia that left his friends often feeling a bit queasy." Wherever taste is involved, today's word will probably fit in: "Melinda's chronic design ageusia resulted in an apartment so badly decorated that even her mother rarely visited."

Suggested Usage: The adjective for today's word is "ageusic," as an ageusic reaction brought on by chili peppers. To indicate degrees of taste sensibility, we can also use hypogeusia "reduction of taste" and hypergeusia "oversensitive taste." If the word strikes you as bit short, you may add a [t] and make it "ageustia" without doing any mischief.

Etymology: Greek ageus(t)ia "fasting" based on a- "without" + geusis "sense of taste." The root is akin to that in Latin gustare "to taste, to take little of," from which we get "gusto" and "gustatory." Though we no longer use "gust" in the sense of "relish, gusto, sense of taste," we do continue to use "disgust" to refer to a repugnance that takes away the appetite. In English the original root became "choose" and "choice" while in Old Norse it emerged in Valkyrie "chooser of the slain," Odin's handmaiden who accompanied the souls of the dead to Valhalla. The word was originally composed of Old Germanic *walr "the slain" + *kuz "to choose."