Word of the Day:

: to eat greedily, gluttonously, or ravenously

"People stuff themselves, they gorge, they gormandize; their fingers are greasy from morning to night." — Philippe Sagant, The Dozing Shaman, 1996

"While my ability to gormandize has slackened over the years, my enthusiasm for cooking big has only grown." — Henry Miller, The Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 19 Dec. 2013

Gormandize entered English in the mid-1500s as a modification of gourmand, a term borrowed from the French that served as a synonym of glutton. The meaning of gourmand softened over time, developing in the mid-18th century a sense referring to one who is "heartily interested in good food and drink." It wasn't until the early 19th century that the wholly positive gourmet became established. Whether that now-common word encouraged the adoption of or was influenced by the softer meaning of gourmand is unknown. Gormandize, too, has softened over time, but only slightly: it can now also imply that a big eater has a discriminating palate as well as a generous appetite.