gustator

Gustator is a noun of Latin origin meaning "taster" or "one who tastes." In classical Latin, gustator referred to a person who samples foods or wines for culinary or medicinal purposes. In English, gustator is now uncommon and largely confined to historical, literary, or scholarly contexts. When used today, it designates someone whose function is to taste and evaluate products, such as a quality-control tester, a wine gustator, or a connoisseur; in modern industry the more common terms are taster, tester, or sommelier.

Separately, the term gustatory, from Latin gustatorius, relates to the sense of taste (gustation) in anatomy and physiology. The gustatory system involves taste receptor cells in taste buds on the tongue and other regions, with neural signals carried by the facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves to the brain. Although "gustator" is not a standard anatomical term, the concept of a person experiencing gustation or an agent that evaluates taste is aligned with the word's original sense.

In summary, gustator is a historical or rare English noun for a person who tastes; its primary modern relevance is as a Latin-rooted descriptor in scholarly or literary contexts, while the related adjective gustatory is common in scientific terminology.