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
Related words
- caseus
- English fromage
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com