Everyday LifeGreek → English
Organoleptic
/ˌɔːrɡənoʊˈlɛptɪk/adjective
Judged by the senses rather than by instruments, as in the taste, smell, colour and texture of a food.
The Greek roots
ὄργανον
órganon
instrument, bodily organ
ληπτικός
lēptikós
able to take in
Literally: “taken in by an organ”
The story of the word
Food scientists and pharmacopoeias needed a name for the tests that are not chemical: the taste, the smell, the colour, the snap of a biscuit. The word arrived from French in the nineteenth century and means taken in through an organ, ὄργανον being any tool or working part, the same word behind the musical organ and Aristotle's Organon, his collected instruments of logic. A tasting panel is an organoleptic instrument with opinions.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
organorganismepilepsycatalepsy
In a sentence
The batch failed on organoleptic grounds before it reached the lab.
Organoleptic testing means a trained panel and a lot of rinsing.