"act of tasting," 1590s, from Latin gustationem (nominative gustatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of gustare "to taste, partake of, enjoy" (from PIE root *geus- "to taste; to choose").
Entries linking to gustation
*geus-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to taste; to choose." It forms words for "taste" in Greek and Latin, but its descendants in Germanic and Celtic mostly mean "try" or "choose." The semantic development could have been in either direction.
It forms all or part of: Angus; choice; choose; degustation; disgust; Fergus; gustation; gustatory; gusto; ragout; Valkyrie.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit jus- "enjoy, be pleased;" Avestan zaosa- "pleasure," Old Persian dauš- "enjoy;" Greek geuesthai "to taste;" Latin gustare "to taste, take a little of;" Old English cosan, cesan, Gothic kausjan "to test, to taste of," Old High German koston "try," German kosten "taste of."