"cheese" in seven languages
Meaningcheese
Spanish
/ˈkeso/
masc.inherited
French
/fʁɔmaʒ/
masc.other source · Latin *FORMĀTICUM '(cheese) shaped in a mould', from FORMA
Italian
/forˈmaddʒo/
masc.other source · Old French formage (from *FORMĀTICUM)
The native cacio, from CĀSEUM, lives on in central Italy: cacio e pepe.
Portuguese
/ˈkejʒu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/ˈbrɨnzə/
fem.other source · of uncertain, probably pre-Roman (substrate) origin
Catalan
/furˈmadʒə/
masc.other source · Occitan formatge, from Latin *FORMĀTICUM '(cheese) shaped in a mould'
English
/tʃiz/
from Latin/French · Old English cēse (an early Germanic loan from Latin)
The Latin ancestor
CĀSEUM‘cheese’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish keeps the Roman word; French named cheese after the mould (forma) it sets in, and Italian took the French word. English cheese, German Käse and Spanish queso are all CĀSEUS.
English relatives: casein; cheese itself (an early Germanic loan from CĀSEUS)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEste queso es muy fuerte.
- frCe fromage est très fort.
- itQuesto formaggio è molto forte.
- ptEste queijo é muito forte.
- roBrânza asta are un gust foarte puternic.
- caAquest formatge és molt fort.
- enThis cheese is very strong.