I was reading yesterday, and came across the word "voluptuary," and paused to wonder if there are voluptuaries today.
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1998 defines it this way:
voluptuary \Vo*lup"tu*a*ry\ (?; 135), n.; pl. Voluptuaries. [L. voluptuarius or voluptarius, fr. voluptas pleasure.] A voluptuous person; one who makes his physical enjoyment his chief care; one addicted to luxury, and the gratification of sensual appetites.
Syn: Sensualist; epicure.
I browsed at Google in an effort to see if there were famous 20th century voluptuaries, and found the word tied to the United Nations, sex, disipation, Anne Rice, the Kama Sutra, French cuisine, prostitution, literature, chinchilla, dance, Tolstoy and assorted other entries. There was even a reference to mental voluptuaries.
So, a voluptuary is a person who spends his or her time in the pursuit of personal pleasure. That pleasure may be sexual, or sensual. It can be tactile, or mental, or gustatory.
I wonder if you can be a part-time voluptuary? Do you need to have great wealth to be one? Can you be a working stiff and still be a voluptuary?
I always thought of Pashas with their harems when I saw the word voluptuary. Picture a man reclining on a collection of pillows, having a small child fan the air with peacock feathers, a scantily clad woman searching a tray for the most delictable morsel to feed him.
I suppose today's voluptuary is the man who drives an expensive car loaded with all the accessories ever invented, or the woman who choses to clothe herself in silk and fur. On very rare occasions, I have been a voluptuary when dining out, but unlike Nero Wolfe, those occasions have been few and far between. I suspect if the third world knew of the word, they would consider every inhabitant of the western world to be a voluptuary.
I think I'll create a female character for an on-going series of stories who has chosen the life of a voluptuary. You know, they say that you should write about what you know. I'll have to do a LOT of research! *G*