gourmand and gourmet

Solution 1:

The French verb 'to taste' is 'goûter'. A 'gourmand' is a person fond of food. It is not strong enough to imply they are a 'glutton', ('glouton' covers that) but someone with a healthy appetite. 'Gourmet' means exactly what it means in English, a connoisseur of fine food.

As Andrew implies I think sorting out the etymology of French word-endings could be a job for a specialist.

The verb 'dégoûter' which seems to come from the same root as 'goûter' appears at first sight to have something to do with taste. But it means to 'disgust' and some English people have misused it and inadvertently told the French waiter the soup was 'disgusting', when they meant to say 'delicious'.

Oddly the word which looks like disgusting, 'déguster', means to savour and to enjoy. So if you enjoy your food, you should tell the waiter it is 'dégustant', not 'dégoûtant'.

Just shows how misleading French to English can sometimes be.