relish

noun

1. (obsolete, uncountable)Flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.

   “Much pleasure we have lost while we abstained / From this delightful fruit, nor known till now / True relish, tasting.”

   “The Caſe is the ſame if the Object, proper for exciting any Senſation, has never been apply'd to the Organ. A Laplander or Negro has no Notion of the reliſh of VVine.”

2. (countable, figuratively, obsolete)Followed by for: one's liking or taste for something; a fondness.

   “I have a relish for moderate praise, because it bids fair to be judicious.”

   “One of the first acts which he was under the necessity of performing must have been painful to a man of so generous a nature, and of so keen a relish for whatever was excellent in arts and letters.”

3. (countable, figuratively, obsolete)A small amount; a tinge, a trace.
4. (figuratively, obsolete, uncountable)Ability to taste or (figurative) enjoy.
5. (figuratively, obsolete, uncountable)Particular quality; (countable) an instance of this; a characteristic or quality.

   “[T]hat Air of piety to the Gods ſhould ſhine thro' the Poem, vvhich ſo viſibly appears in all the vvorks of antiquity: And it ought to preſerve ſome reliſh of the old vvay of vvriting; the connections ſhould be looeſ, the narrations and decſriptions ſhort, and the periods conciſe.”

6. (broadly, uncountable)Enjoyment of flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
7. (broadly, figuratively, uncountable)Enjoyment of something pleasant; (countable) an instance of this.

   “Jews and Israel are not synonymous; nor is support for Palestine synonymous with anti-Semitism; nor is questioning the orthodoxy of the Republican party, which the majority of us do with relish, an insult to Jewry.”

8. (archaic, broadly, uncountable)Appetizing or pleasant flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
9. (archaic, broadly, figuratively, uncountable)Pleasant quality; (countable) an instance of this.

   “When liberty is gone, / Life grows insipid, and has lost its relish.”

10. (broadly, countable)A savoury dish or course of dishes, especially one accompanying rather than forming the main part of a meal; an appetizer, a side dish.
11. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable)A savoury dish or course of dishes, especially one accompanying rather than forming the main part of a meal; an appetizer, a side dish.
12. (broadly, countable, uncountable)A condiment or sauce added to food for a spicy or tangy flavour; specifically, one made with chopped, pickled fruit or vegetables.

    “Congressmen gleefully wolfed down every imaginable version of the hot dog – smoked kielbasas, jumbo grillers, Big & Juicy's, kosher dogs and spiced dogs – topped with every imaginable condiment – hot mustard, sweet mustard, jalapenos, spaghetti sauce, regular relish, corn relish, maple syrup salsa and the secret sauce of Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). ("If I told you the recipe," an aide explained, "I'd have to shoot you.")”

13. (obsolete)A projecting component.

    “Forject: m[asculine]. A iutting, or leaning out, or ouer; a relliſh, or out-footing.”

    “Relliſh, See Projecture [“a jetting over the upright of a Building”].”

14. (broadly)In a wooden frame: the projection or shoulder around, or at the side of, a tenon (“projecting member made to insert into a mortise”), used to strengthen a mortise-and-tenon joint.

    “The Teazle Tennons are made at right Angles to thoſe vvhich are made on the Poſts to go into the Raiſons, and the Reliſh, or Cheats of theſe Teazle Tennons ſtand up vvithin an Inch and a ½ of the top of the Raiſon, […]”

    “The morticing is done on the opposite side of the main frame and driven by a crank; the chisels are set transversely or crosswise, in order to leave a relish as in a mortice made by hand; one or more holes are bored to start from.”

15. (historical)A type of ornamentation comprising one or more trills.

    “O Gad! there's a flat Note! / There's art! hovv ſurprizingly the Key changes! / O lavv [Lord]! there's a double reliſh! I ſvvear, Sir, you have the ſvveeteſt little Finger in England!”

verb

1. (transitive)To give (something) (a pleasant) flavour or taste; to make appetizing.

   “The olde man, which marrieth a yonge Wyfe, is ſure of this ſowre ſauce, to relliſh his ſwete Imaginations: […]”

   “And yet as earthly happines herein comes ſhort of heauen, that it is neuer meere and vnmixed, but hath ſome ſovvre ſauce to relliſh it: ſo falleth it as farre ſhort of hell, that not onely hope, but the moſt miſerable hap, hath ſome glimpſe of comfort.”

   “By this the boiling Kettle had prepar'd, / And to the Table ſent, the ſmoaking Lard; / On which the eager Appetite they dine, / A ſav'ry Bit, that ſerv'd to relliſh Wine: […]”

   “Your Herrings, Sir, came hale and feer, / In healſome Brine a' foumin, / Fu' fat they are, and guſty Gear / As e'er I laid my Thumb on: / […] / They reliſh fine / Good Claret VVine, / That gars our Cares ſtand yon.”

   “[T]he wisdom-tooth, just cut, of the age, that's found / With gums obtuse to gust and smack which relished so / The meat o' the meal folks made some fifty years ago.”

2. (also, figuratively, reflexive, sometimes, transitive)To take delight or pleasure in (someone or oneself, or something).

   “He relishes their time together.”

   “I don’t relish the idea of going out tonight.”

   “It had another Cataſtrophe or Concluſion, at the firſt Playing: vvhich […] many ſeem'd not to relliſh it; and therefore 'tvvas ſince alter'd: […]”

   “I neuer truly reliſht my ſelfe, before.”

   “O vvhy ſhould nature nigardly reſtraine, / The Sotherne Nations reliſh not our tongue, / Elſe ſhould my lines gline on the vvaues of Rhene [Rhine], / And crovvne the Pirens [Pyrenees] vvith my liuing ſong; […]”

3. (obsolete, transitive)To eat or taste (drink, food, etc.).

   “[S]he being not vnprouided of ſtrong poyſon at that inſtant, in the Popes outward chamber ſo mingled it, that when his Grand-ſublimity-taſter came to reliſh it, he ſunke downe ſtark dead on the pauement.”

   “Friend? Is there any ſuch fooliſh thing i'the vvorld? ha? S'lid I ne're relliſht it yet.”

   “Such a dainty Doe, to be taken / By one that knovvs not necke-beefe from a Pheſant, / Nor cannot relliſh Braggat from Ambroſia.”

4. (obsolete, transitive)To provide (someone, or their appetite, mouth, stomach, etc.) with something appetizing or tasty.

   “[T]o relliſh the pallat of lickeriſh expectation, and withall to giue an Item how ſudden a ſlabber this ruffianly ſwaggerer (Death) is, […]”

5. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To appreciate or understand (something).

   “Giue me a huſband that vvill fill mine armes, / Of ſteddie iudgement, quicke and nimble ſenſe: / Fooles reliſh not a Ladies excellence.”

   “Novv Vlyſſes, I begin to reliſh thy aduiſe, / And I vvill giue a taſte thereof forthvvith, / To Agamemnon, […]”

   “VVhy vvhat neede vve / Commune vvith you of this? […] if you, or ſtupified, / Or ſeeming ſo, in ſkill, cannot, or vvill not / Relliſh truth, like vs: informe your ſelues / VVe neede no more of your aduice: […]”

   “[T]he following song is an old ode, which I present to the public in a new edition, with the several various readings which I find of it in former editions, and in ancient manuscripts. Those who cannot relish the various readings, will perhaps find their account in the song, which never before appeared in print.”

6. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To experience (something); also (rare), to feel (something).

   “VVe poore commons (vvho taſting vvarre, are made to relliſh nothing but taxes) can do nothing but grieue, to ſee things vnlavvful practiſed, to obtein things impoſſible.”

   “Haſt thou (vvhich art but aire) a touch, a feeling / Of their afflictions, and ſhall not my ſelfe, / One of their kinde, that relliſh all as ſharpely, / Paſſion as they, be kindlier mou'd then thou art?”

7. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To have a particular opinion about (someone or something); to receive, to regard.

   “VVhich inſolent ſpeech the Engliſh Biſhops reliſhed ſo harſhly, that they preſently vvith one voyce threatned to accurſe and excommunicate by name the Kings principall vvicked Counſellers; […]”

   “One morning, vvhile he vvas bathing in the ſea, his man Clinker took it in his head that his maſter vvas in danger of drovvning; and, in this conceit, plunging into the vvater, he lugged him out naked on the beach, and almoſt pulled off his ear in the operation. You may gueſs hovv this atchievement vvas reliſhed by Mr. Bramble, vvho is impatient, iraſcible, and has the moſt extravagant ideas of decency and decorum in the œconomy of his ovvn perſon— […]”

8. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To have a tinge or trace of (something).

   “This vvas Theatricall vvit, right Stage-jeſting, and reliſhing a Play-houſe, invented for ſcorne, and laughter; […]”

9. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To provide (someone) with something delightful or pleasant; to delight, to gratify, to please.
10. (figuratively, intransitive)Followed by in: to take delight or pleasure.
11. (intransitive, obsolete)To have a particular (specifically, a pleasant) flavour or taste.

    “[G]ood ſalt cannot relyſh in ſo vnſauory a mouth, […]”

    “No more the Bleſſings of a Feaſt / Shall reliſh on the Tongue, / The heavy Ear forgets the Taſte / And Pleaſure of a Song.”

    “[A] glass of old port or humming ale hardly relishes as it ought without the infusion of some lively topic that had its birth with the day, and perishes before night.”

12. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To have a particular (specifically, a favourable) characteristic or quality.

    “But if any ſhall inquire farther as concerning Thetis, my aunſwere muſt then relliſh after the Oracle at Delphos, that euermore left the certaintie of thinges to vncertaine euentes, and howſoeuer it hapned with or contrarie to expectation, yet ſtill the euent made good the oracle: […]”

    “[N]othing can reliſh in their thoughtes that ſauours of ſvveet youth: […]”

    “How ſwéete your howlings relliſh in mine eares?”

    “[H]ad I beene the finder-out of this Secret, it vvould not have relliſh'd among my other diſcredits.”

    “[T]hirſt, heat, ſands, ſerpents vvere pleaſant to a valiant man, honorable enterpriſes are accompanied vvith dangers and damages, as experience evinceth, they vvill make the reſt of thy life relliſh the better, […]”

13. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To have a tinge or trace of something.

    “You ſhould not haue beleeu'd me, for vertue cannot ſo e[n]oculat our old ſtock, but vve ſhall reliſh of it, I loued you not.”

    “[B]y often praying in ſuch manner and in all circumſtances, vve ſhall habituate our ſouls to prayer, by making it the buſineſs of many leſſer portions of our time: and by thruſting in betvveen all our other imployments, it vvill make every thing reliſh of Religion, and by degrees turn all into its nature.”

    “[A] Theory vvhich, hovv much ſoever it may reliſh of VVit and Invention, hath no real Foundation either in Nature or Hiſtory, […]”

    “[H]e could do it because his piety was of the true sort, and relished of everything that was sweet and affectionate.”

    “Those things that still smacked of winter were all rusty about her, and those things that had already relished of the spring had put forth the tender and lively colours of the season.”

14. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To provide delight or pleasure.
15. (transitive)To add one or more relishes (noun etymology 2, noun sense 2) to (a tenon, piece of wood, etc.).

    “At Fig. 13 I show a housed string between newels. Here the string is double tenoned into the shanks of both newels, also relished between tenons and pinned into the shank.”

16. (obsolete, transitive)To sing (a song or tune); specifically, in a manner where there are tremulous changes of tone; to trill, to warble.

    “Val[entine]. VVhy, hovv knovv you that I am in loue? / Speed. Marry by theſe ſpeciall markes: firſt you haue learn'd (like Sir Protheus) to vvreath your Armes like a Male-content: to relliſh a Loue-ſong, like a Robin-red-breaſt: to vvalke alone like one that had the peſtilence: to ſigh, like a Schoole-boy that had loſt his A. B. C. […]”

    “You mocking Birds (quoth ſhe) your tunes intombe / VVithin your hollovv ſvvelling feathered breaſts, / […] / Raliſh your nimble notes to pleaſing eares, / Diſtres likes dũps vvhẽ [dumps when] time is kept vvith teares.”

    “[N]ovv hee's all muſicall. / Vnto the counſell chamber he goes ſinging, / And vvhileſt the king his vvilfull edicts makes, / In vvhich nones tongue is povverful ſaue the kings, / Hee's in a corner, reliſhing ſtrange aires.”