epicure

[ep-i-kyoo r] /ˈɛp ɪˌkyʊər/

noun

a person who cultivates a refined taste, especially in food and wine; connoisseur.

Archaic. a person dedicated to sensual enjoyment.

Origin

1350-1400 for earlier sense; 1555-65 for def 2; Middle English Epicures, Epicureis Epicureans (plural) < Latin Epicūrēus (singular) (see epicurean)

Synonyms

1. gastronome, gourmet, epicurean. 2. voluptuary, sensualist, gourmand.

Antonyms

1. ascetic.

Examples from the web for epicure

How the modern epicure swoons for the yeasty aroma, firm crust and dense honeycomb texture of a good loaf of bread.
The avian epicure thus grabbed both the salad and the sushi courses in one swell swoop.
He was, in every sense of the word, a literary epicure.
For the epicure-there's a choice of cafes and restaurants that are a challenge to gastronomic descriPtion.
He is the sole surviving epicure among those who have given their names to great dishes.
He hath a fair sepulchre in the grateful stomach of the judicious epicure-and for such a tomb might be content to die.
Merrill is both a poet of memory and an epicure of daily life.

British Dictionary definitions for epicure

epicure

/ˈɛpɪˌkjʊə/

noun

a person who cultivates a discriminating palate for the enjoyment of good food and drink; gourmet

a person devoted to sensual pleasures

Derived Forms

epicurism, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Medieval Latin epicūrus, after Epicurus; see Epicurean

Word Origin and History for epicure

late 14c., "follower of Epicurus," from Latin Epicurus, from Greek Epicouros (341-270 B.C.E.), Athenian philosopher who taught that pleasure is the highest good and identified virtue as the greatest pleasure; the first lesson recalled, the second forgotten, and the name used pejoratively for "one who gives himself up to sensual pleasure" (1560s), especially "glutton, sybarite" (1774). Epicurus' school opposed by stoics, who first gave his name a reproachful sense. Non-pejorative meaning "one who cultivates refined taste in food and drink" is from 1580s.