prelibation

[ pree-lahy-bey-shuhn ]

noun

1. a foretaste.

prelibation

/ ˌpriːlaɪˈbeɪʃən /

noun

1. rare.
   an advance taste or sample; foretaste

Word History and Origins

Origin of prelibation¹

1520–30; < Late Latin praelībātiōn- (stem of praelībātiō ) a foretaste, anticipation, equivalent to praelībāt ( us ) (past participle of praelībāre to taste beforehand) + -iōn- -ion. See pre-, libation

Word History and Origins

Origin of prelibation¹

C16: from Late Latin praelībātiō a tasting beforehand, offering of the first fruits, from Latin prae before + lībāre to taste

Example Sentences

Prelibation, prē-lī-bā′shun, n. a tasting beforehand, foretaste.

From Project Gutenberg

There he enjoys summer and winter pure and unalloyed by any tedious interruptions: a Swedish spring, which is always a late one, is no repetition, in a lower key, of the harshness of winter, but anticipates, and is a prelibation of, perfect summer,--laden with blossoms,--radiant with the lily and the rose: insomuch, that a Swedish summer night represents implicitly one half of Italy, and a winter night one half of the world beside.

From Project Gutenberg

Rich prelibation of consummate joy!

From Project Gutenberg

The horror of life mixed itself already in earliest youth with the heavenly sweetness of life; that grief, which one in a hundred has sensibility enough to gather from the sad retrospect of life in its closing stage, for me shed its dews as a prelibation upon the fountains of life whilst yet sparkling to the morning sun.

From Project Gutenberg

The progressive improvement of the human family is a delightful subject for meditation, giving us, perhaps, a prelibation of the joys of futurity, and animating us to contribute our aid, trifling as it may be, to the melioration of the condition of our country.

From Project Gutenberg