Say

To take the say. To taste meat or wine before it is presented, in order to prove that it is not poisoned. The phrase was common in the reign of Queen Elizabeth

“Nor deem it meet that you to him convey

The proffered bowl, unless you taste the say.”

Rose: Orlando Furioso, xxi. 61

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.