English 'gourmet' comes from French 'gourmet' (wine connoisseur), from Old French 'gromet' (a wine merchant's servant boy) — a word that underwent extraordinary social elevation, rising from the lowest rung of the wine trade to denote the most refined expertise in food and drink.
A connoisseur of fine food and drink; of or relating to high-quality, expertly prepared food.
From French 'gourmet' (a wine merchant's servant, later a wine taster, then a connoisseur of food and wine). The French word is probably an alteration of Old French 'groumet' or 'gromet' (a wine merchant's servant, a boy), which is also the source of English 'grommet.' The ultimate origin is debated: possibly from Middle English 'grom' (boy, servant — the source of 'groom') borrowed
'Gourmet' and 'grommet' (a metal eyelet) derive from the same Old French word 'gromet' (a boy servant). The wine merchant's boy who handled casks became, through semantic elevation, the refined connoisseur of fine food. Meanwhile, the same word took a different path in nautical usage: a 'gromet' was a ship's boy, and the metal ring he used to secure