fromage

Forms

fromage m (plural fromages)^[1] Old French formage (1180) beside fromage, and froumage in the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fromage, inherited from Late Latin formāticus (“moulded”), first said of cheese “made in a mould”, as recorded in 795.^[5][2][3][6] The Latin adjective is from fōrma (“mould, cheese mould”), the source of forme and fourme.^[5][7][2] The expected form formage is recorded in 1180; the metathesis in the modern form cut the word off from its origin.^[2]

Old Occitan formaige and Italian formaggio have the same origin.^[7][4] In northern Gallo-Romance the word replaced Latin cāseus (“cheese”), which survives elsewhere in Italian cacio and Spanish queso.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears about 1135 in the Couronnement de Louis.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The word names both the food made from curdled milk and a moulded mass of it.^[2] It enters phrases such as entre la poire et le fromage (before 1660), the end of a meal when talk becomes less serious, and en faire tout un fromage “to make a fuss about it” (1928).^[2][3]

Figuratively it meant a cushy, well-paid post (1932), first in se retirer dans un fromage (1873), after La Fontaine's fable of the rat who withdrew from the world into a cheese.^[2] Going back to the idea of the mould, it names dishes set in a mould, such as fromage de tête (1835), a brawn of pig's head.^[2] The English word fromage is French for “cheese”.^[8]

Timeline

• 795 – Latin formaticus “moulded” is used of cheese.^[5]
• c. 1135 – Fromage appears in the Couronnement de Louis.^[5]
• 1180 – The form formage is recorded.^[2][3]
• before 1660 – Scarron uses entre la poire et le fromage.^[3][2]
• 1835 – Fromage de tête is recorded.^[2]
• 1873 – Se retirer dans un fromage “to take a cushy post” appears.^[2]
• 1928 – En faire tout un fromage is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Cheese, a food made by curdling milk, with or without fermentation: du fromage de brebis.^[9][5][1]
2. A whole cheese moulded in one piece: un fromage rond.^[5][2]
3. Fromage de tête: brawn, pig's head set in jelly.^[2][3]
4. (familiar, figurative) A cushy, well-paid post, a sinecure.^[2][9]
5. Entre la poire et le fromage: at the end of the meal, when talk turns less serious.^[2][4]
6. En faire tout un fromage: to make a great fuss about something.^[2]

Word family

• fromager
• fromagerie

Related words

• forme
• fourme
• Latin fōrma

Usage notes

Familiar French also says fromegi and frometon.^[9] In Quebec the pork brawn is tête de fromage or tête fromagée.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 717b
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert