Cheese
Cheese is from Proto Indo European kwat, “to become sour”. In Latin this became caseus, and referred to a food made of compressed curds of milk, usually heavily salted to help preserve it. (Yum!) The Germanic tribes borrowed both the word and the food, and it appeared in West Germanic as kasjus. In Old English this became cyse (pronounced something like KOO-zeh), and by modern English this was cheese. While the Romans invented the process of creating molded cheeses (and called them formaticum), most modern cheeses were invented in medieval times.
The sound of cheese is may be an amalgam of cheesy properties. The “ch” could indicate the stresses undergone by the milk in the process of making it; the long “e” could point to its long shelf life; and the “z” may represent the zesty, sharp flavor.
My personal favorite is Monterey Jack. According to Wikipedia, this cheese was first made by Franciscan monks in Monterey, California in the 1800s, and distributed and sold by a businessman named David Jacks.
Thanks to Nio for suggesting this word of the day!
July 7th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Wolf and I were talking about the Word of the Day while he was eating some a few weeks back. He looked at his cheese and said “Cheese. MMMm. There’s a word you need to ask Jeff about.”
I myself am a brie gal, while Wolf is an extra sharp cheddar guy.
July 8th, 2007 at 4:25 am
Brie: 1848, from name of district in department Seine-et-Marne, southeast of Paris, famous for its cheeses. (Imagine! Thomas Jefferson never had brie.)
Cheddar is named after its hometown, Cheddar, in Somerset, England. The town is probably named after the Old English word ceodor, “ravine” — there is a nearby gorge.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Kwat? As in kumkwat? (sp?) And just what is a kumkwat, anyway? Thanks for tracing the word’s lineage, Jeff! Nio and I are big fans of Jalapeno Monterey Jack. Goes great on tacos and burritos. Mmmmm, cheese.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
It’s great to have you drop by, Wolf!
A kumquat (or cumquat) is a citrus-like fruit that grows on short trees, originally from China. The name comes from Cantonese (a variety of Chinese) gam gwat, literally “golden orange”. If gam gwat is related at all to kwat, it’s lost in ancient prehistory.
And just so you don’t think I know everything off the top of my head: I just lifted that, too, directly from Wikipedia.