means The sense by which you detect flavor on the tongue, or more broadly, your discernment about what is good, elegant, or appropriate.

from From Old French 'taster,' meaning to touch, feel, or sample, which came to English in the medieval period. The root traces back to Latin, possibly a blend of 'tangere' (to touch) and 'gustare' (to taste) — so the word literally began as touching before it settled onto the tongue. The leap from 'sampling food' to 'good judgment' is an old one: by the time English borrowed it, taste already carried the idea that to sample something well is to know what's worth having.