fermentation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fermentacioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Late Latin fermentātiō,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} a noun of action formed from fermentātus, the past participle of fermentō (“to leaven, cause to rise or ferment”),^[7][8][4][9] from fermentum (“leaven, yeast; a drink made of fermented barley”).^[4][10] Etymonline takes fermentum as perhaps a contraction of *fervimentum, from the root of ferveō (“to boil, seethe”),^[4] and Klein connects it with barm and fervent.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In alchemy, any process that makes matter bubble, give off heat and change its properties: in Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale, "Oure cementyng and fermentacioun".^[2][9][4] The OED dates the passage about 1386, the MED about 1395.^[9][2]

Semantic evolution

The alchemists' sense lasted until 1612.^[9] The modern scientific sense, a process like the action of leaven on dough or on sugary liquids, is recorded from 1601, in Holland's translation of Pliny,^[9][7][4] and the word was also used loosely of other bubbling or heating processes until the late 18th century.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined it, in the science of his day, as "a slow motion of the intestine particles of a mixt body".^[11] The figurative sense of agitation or excitement followed about 1660,^[9][5] in the 1650s according to Etymonline.^[4] Collins gives zymotic as the related adjective.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – alchemy, a process making matter bubble, heat and change (obsolete by 1612).^[9][2]
• 1601 – the action of leaven or yeast on dough or sugary liquids.^[9][7]
• c. 1660 – figurative, agitation, excitement.^[9] Etymonline dates the figurative use to the 1650s.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The chemical breakdown of a substance by yeast, bacteria or other microorganisms, especially the anaerobic conversion of sugar into alcohol: the fermentation of apple juice into cider.^[12][7][5]
2. A change in organic matter brought about by enzymes, yielding alcohols, acids and carbon dioxide.^[7]
3. A state of agitation or excitement; unrest.^[9][5]
4. (obsolete, 1386–1612) In alchemy, a process that makes matter bubble, heat and change its properties.^[9][2]

Word family

• nonfermentation
• prefermentation

Related words

• ferment
• fervent
• barm

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins