Smaks

Smaks is a linguistic term used in Scandinavian languages to denote a gustatory or sensory aspect within compounds. It is derived from the noun smak, meaning taste or flavor. The form smaks- functions as a productive combining form or prefix in Norwegian and Danish, attaching to other nouns and adjectives to form new words related to tasting, flavor evaluation, and sensory analysis. It is used primarily in technical or culinary terminology rather than as an independent word.

Common examples include smaksprofil (taste profile), smaksnotat (taste note), smaksanalyse (taste analysis), and smaksprøving (taste testing). These compounds appear in contexts such as food and beverage product development, quality control, sensory science, and culinary journalism. The semantics center on gustatory characteristics, aroma, texture, and overall flavor impression. The usage may differ slightly between Norwegian and Danish, but all share the same root meaning.

Etymology and orthography: The combining form is typically written as smaks- within compounds and joins without a space or hyphen in modern usage, as in smaksprofil or smaksnotat. It functions similarly to other productive combining forms that derive from smak to indicate flavor-related attributes.

See also: taste, flavor, gustation, sensory evaluation, aroma profile.