When the term disgust was first introduced in the English language towards the end of the sixteenth century, it initially referred to a strong aversion to food. However, it soon evolved to encompass aversions to various things. The word was borrowed from Middle French desgouster, which, through the same word in Old French, consists of the roots des-, meaning “not”, and gouster, meaning “taste”. Des- is a Latin prefix believed to originate from a Proto-Indo-European element signifying “apart”, while gouster, via Latin gustare, stems from Proto-Indo-European geus, denoting “to taste” or “choose” (which is also the etymology of names like Angus and Fergus, as well as the verbs choose and gustate, and the nouns gusto and Valkyrie). The usage of the term disgust peaked in 1804 but has been making a resurgence in recent times.
