In Latin, the verb sapere means both to taste and to know, the notion being that metaphorically “tasting” something allows you to gain knowledge about it. Similarly, in English, the word taste itself also has this double sense: usually it refers to the flavour of food, but having good taste can also mean knowing what is excellent and what is not. From sapere, Latin derived the adjective sapidus, meaning both tasty and wise, a word that English adopted in the early seventeenth century as sapid, meaning savoury, and as insipid, meaning bland. Sapid continues to be used to describe savoury food, but for the most part insipid has shifted its application and now refers to people—especially dinner guests—who are bland, dull, foolish, or jejune.