GOR-mand

Definition

(noun) A person who takes excessive pleasure in eating and drinking, often to the point of overindulgence.

Example

The restaurant critic was a gourmand in the truest sense — not merely knowledgeable about food but physically incapable of leaving anything on the plate.

Word Origin

Gourmand comes from the Old French gourmant, meaning “glutton” or “one who eats greedily,” of uncertain further origin. It entered English in the 15th century carrying its French sense of someone defined by appetite rather than discernment. The word is frequently confused with gourmet — a person of refined culinary taste — but the distinction is meaningful: a gourmet selects carefully and savors deliberately, while a gourmand simply wants more. One is defined by quality, the other by quantity.