From Italian 'caffe latte' (milk coffee), from Latin 'lac' (milk) — order a 'latte' in Italy and you'll just get milk.
Short for Italian 'caffè latte' (milk coffee), from 'latte' (milk), from Latin 'lac' (milk), genitive 'lactis,' from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (to milk, to squeeze) or, according to some reconstructions, from *glakt- (milk). The PIE root *h₂melǵ- is the ancestor of Greek 'gala' (γάλα, milk), from which English obtains 'galaxy' (the Milky Way — the great river of milk in the sky), 'galactose,' and 'lactose.' Latin 'lac' gave the Romance languages their standard milk words: Italian 'latte,' French 'lait,' Spanish 'leche,' Portuguese 'leite.' In Italian, ordering a bare 'latte' in a café will produce a glass of plain milk; the coffee drink requires
If you order a 'latte' in Italy, you'll get a glass of milk. The coffee drink is 'caffè latte.' And 'latte,' 'lactose,' 'lettuce,' and 'galaxy' all connect to milk. Latte IS milk. Lactose is milk-sugar. Lettuce was named for its milky sap (Latin 'lactūca'). And 'galaxy' comes from Greek 'gala' (milk) — the Milky Way. Your morning latte, your salad, and the cosmos