sommelier
Meaning
A wine waiter, especially one in a restaurant who is in charge of selecting and serving wine.
Usage
The sommelier recommended an excellent Burgundy to pair with the duck.
She trained for years to become a certified master sommelier.
We asked the sommelier for his opinion on the vintage.
Etymology
The word 'sommelier' entered English directly from French in the 19th century, where it originally meant a butler or an officer in charge of provisions. Its journey goes further back to Old French 'sommerier' or 'saumalier', meaning a pack-animal driver, derived from 'somme' (a pack or burden), which itself originates from the Late Latin 'sagma', meaning a packsaddle, borrowed from Greek 'sagma'. The semantic evolution from a driver of pack animals carrying supplies to a specialist in charge of wine in a cellar and finally to a refined wine steward illustrates a fascinating shift from logistical labor to a role of expertise and luxury.
Analysis
This word is a direct loanword from French. It does not contain separable morphemes within its modern English spelling.