formaticum

Forms

fōrmāticum n (genitive fōrmāticī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fōrma (“mould, form”) + -āticum, cheese pressed in a mould.^[1][2][3] Another proposal sees an ellipsis of a phrase with cāseus (“cheese”), “mould-cheese”, though no adjective ⟨fōrmāticus⟩ is attested.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Reichenau Glossary of the 8th century and in a capitulary of Charlemagne of 802, meaning cheese.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Papias explains caseus as what is commonly called formaticum.^[2][3] Du Cange also records the forms formaticus and formatis,^[2] and Wiktionary lists further variants such as firmaticus and formagium.^[1] The word displaced caseus in Gallo-Romance, apparently fairly late; an early Breton borrowing, Breton fourondec, shows that it existed before the penultimate vowel was lost there in the 8th or 9th century.^[1]

It survives in Italian formaggio^[3] and French fromage, earlier formage (13th century).^[3]

Timeline

• 8th century – The Reichenau Glossary has it.^[1]
• 802 – A capitulary of Charlemagne uses it.^[1]
• 11th century – Papias the Lombard writes that caseus is commonly called formaticum.^[3]
• 13th century – French formage, later fromage, is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Early Medieval Latin) Cheese.^[1][2]

Related words

• caseus
• English fromage

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com