E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Gourmand and Gourmet (French).
The gourmand is one whose chief pleasure is eating; but a gourmet is a connoisseur of food and wines. In England the difference is this: a gourmand regards quantity more than quality, a gourmet quality more than quantity. (Welsh, gor, excess; gorm, a fulness; gourmod, too much; gormant; etc.) (See APICIUS.)
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“In former times [in France] gourmand meant a judge of eating, and gourmet a judge of wine … Gourmet is now universally understood to refer to eating, and not to drinking.”—Hamerton: French and English, part v. chap. iv. p. 249.
