tasteful

[Eng. taste; -ful ( l ).] 1. Having a high or strong taste or relish; savory. "A kid's well-fatted entrails, tasteful food." Pope: Homer's Ody ey, xviii. 51. 2. Endowed with taste; capable of discerning and appreciating what is beautiful, sublime, noble, or the like; po e ing good taste. "His tasteful mind enjoys Alike the complicated charms, which glow Thro' the wide landscape." Cooper : Power of Harmony , ii. It is as often the result of an that is low or mean. innate sense of beauty or propriety as of art-education, and no genius can compensate for the want of it. 7. Manner with respect to what is pleasing; the pervading air, choice of circumstances, or general arrangement in any work of art, by which taste on the part of the artist or author is evinced; style. " Taste is, perhaps, his only director. Taste in writing is the exhibition of the greatest quantity of beauty and of use that may be admitted into any description without counteracting each other."-Goldsmith: Polite Learning, ch. vii. 8. Manner with respect to what is becoming, proper, refined, or in accordance with the laws of politene and good society; as, That remark is not in good taste . *9. The act of feeling or experiencing. "I have almost forgot the taste of fears." Shakesp.: Macbeth , v. 5. 10. Trial, experiment, e ay, proof, specimen. "Have we not had a taste of his obedience?" Shakesp.: Coriolanus , iii. 1. 11. A small portion given as a specimen or sam ple; a little piece or bit tasted, eaten, or drunk, II. Technically : 1. Physiol.: The specific organs producing the sense of taste are the endings of the glo o-pharyngeal and lingual nerves in the mucous membrane of the tongue and palate, the tongue and lips acting as subsidiary organs by bringing the sapid substances into contact with the mucous membrane of the mouth. It is not yet decided whether the taste buds (q. v.) are special organs of taste. The tastes thus cognizable are broadly cla ified into acid, saline, bitter, and sweet. It is e ential to the development of taste that the substance brought in contact with the tongue be di olved, and the effect 3. Characterized by or exhibiting good taste; pro accordance with good taste; as, a tasteful pattern. tāste-fül-ly, adv . [Eng. tasteful; -ly.] In a tasteful manner; in or with good taste; as, a garden tastefully laid out.