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rennet

Etymology and origin of the English word rennet

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɹɛnɪt/[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English rennet,[2][3][4][5] probably from an unrecorded Old English *rynet,[2][3][4] related to gerennan “to cause to run together, curdle”,[3][4][5][6] because it makes milk curdle.[3][4] This is a causative of the verb that gave run.[3][4][5][6] The apple called a rennet is a separate word, from French reinette.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mass of curdled milk found in the stomach of an unweaned calf, used for curdling milk in making cheese (about 1450).[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

By 1577 the word meant anything used to curdle milk, including the plant lady's bedstraw.[7][4] It came to mean especially the stomach lining of a calf or other young ruminant and the extract made from it,[2][5][6] and in chemistry it is used for the enzyme rennin.[2][5]

Timeline

  • about 1450 – curdled milk from a calf's stomach.[3][4][7]
  • 1577 – anything used to curdle milk.[7]
  • about 1624 – verb, to curdle with rennet.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An extract from the stomach lining of a calf or other young ruminant, used to curdle milk in making cheese.
  2. The inner lining of the fourth stomach of a calf or other young ruminant.
  3. Rennin, or a substitute for it.

Word family

  • rennin
  • run

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Rennet.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rennet. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·