epicure

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 26, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>epicure</strong> &#149; \EP-ih-kyur\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>:</strong> one with sensitive and discriminating tastes especially in food or wine</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"At the back of the shop, Atwell and his apprentice, former chef Ryan Perrier, sharpen upwards of 3,500 blades a year on Japanese whetstones for a range of customers, including local chefs and at-home <em>epicures</em>." — <a href="https://downeast.com/maine-made/strata-knives-portland/">Sara Anne Donnelly, <em>Down East</em>, June 2020</a></p> <p>"Tucci has long been a masterful actor, but he has more recently unlocked a second career as an <em>epicure</em> and an object of internet thirst.… <em>Searching for Italy</em>, then, is a gift, equally wholesome in intention—Tucci tours Italy and explores how its food intermingles with its history—and knowing in subtext." — <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/03/stanley-tucci-men-in-kilts-and-how-well-travel-post-pandemic/618185/">Sophie Gilbert, <em>The Atlantic</em>, 3 Mar. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The word <em>epicure</em> is currently associated with indulging the appetite, but that is a long way from the teachings of the man to whom we owe the word. The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus taught a philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and a secluded life. He believed in the pursuit of pleasure, but pleasure for him comprised tranquility and freedom from pain—not the indulgence of the senses. Detractors of Epicurus in his own time and later, however, reduced his notions of pleasure to material and sensual gratification. When <em>epicure</em> entered English in the 16th century, it was synonymous with the modern term <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar