From Latin 'caseus,' borrowed into Germanic before the Anglo-Saxons reached Britain — one of English's oldest Latin loans.
Definition
A food made from the pressed curds of milk, produced in a wide variety of flavours and textures.
The Full Story
Latinbefore 900 (in English)well-attested
From OldEnglish 'cēse, cȳse,' from West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed very early from Latin 'cāseus' (cheese). TheLatinword is of uncertain ultimate origin but may derive from PIE *kwat- (to ferment, to become sour), linking it to the fermentation process central to cheesemaking. The borrowing into Germanic happened before the Anglo-Saxon migration to Britain, showing
West Germanic borrowing. Notably, French took a different path: 'fromage' comes from Latin 'formaticus' (made in a mould), describing the shaping process rather than the curdling. This split — cāseus languages vs. formaticus languages — maps neatly onto northern vs. southern Romance. English, as a Germanic language, took the Latin 'substance' word rather than the 'process' word, receiving it through direct Roman-Germanic contact rather than through French. Key roots: cāseus (Latin: "cheese").