smekkur

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmɛhkʏr/
• Rhymes: -ɛhkʏr

From Old Norse -smekkr (in e.g. afsmekkr, “taste”), likely borrowed from Old English smæcc, from Proto-Germanic *smakkuz, from Proto-Indo-European *smeg-. First attested in the 1800s. Cognate with English smack, smatch, and smake.

smekkur m (genitive singular smekks, nominative plural smekkir) (most often in the singular)

1. personal taste

   að (sínum) smekk ― to (one's) taste

   eftir (sínum) smekk (sometimes proscribed) ― to (one's) taste

   hafa smekk fyrir e-u ― have a taste for something

2. sense of taste

   Synonym: bragðskyn

3. the taste of something

   Synonyms: bragð, keimur

   fá smekk af e-u ― get a taste of something

• hafa smekk fyrir (“to have a liking for, to have a taste for”)
• smekkmaður (“a man of good taste”)
• smekklegur (“tasteful, in good taste”)

• smakka (“to taste”)

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “smekkur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “smekkur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)
• Málfarsbankinn [Idiom bank]‎^[1] (in Icelandic), (Can we date this quote?): “Frekar er mælt með orðalaginu að sínum smekk en eftir sínum smekk. ― The phrase að sínum smekk is recommended over eftir sínum smekk.”

Borrowed from Danish smække, first attested in c. 1900.

smekkur m (genitive singular smekks, nominative plural smekkir)

1. bib (item of clothing for babies tied around their neck to protect their clothes from getting dirty when eating)

   Synonym: hlífðardúkur

   setja smekk á barnið ― put a bib on a baby

   vera með smekk ― have a bib on

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “smekkur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “smekkur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)