rennet English · revision 1273

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹɛnɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''rennet'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) probably from an unrecorded Old English ''*rynet'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) related to ''gerennan'' “to cause to run together, curdle”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) because it makes milk curdle.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) This is a causative of the verb that gave [[run]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The apple called a ''rennet'' is a separate word, from French ''reinette''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1577 the word meant anything used to curdle milk, including the plant lady's bedstraw.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It came to mean especially the stomach lining of a calf or other young ruminant and the extract made from it,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and in chemistry it is used for the enzyme [[rennin]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1450 – curdled milk from a calf's stomach.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1577 – anything used to curdle milk.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1624 – verb, to curdle with rennet.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An extract from the stomach lining of a calf or other young [[ruminant]], used to curdle milk in making [[cheese]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The inner lining of the fourth stomach of a calf or other young ruminant.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # [[rennin|alt=Rennin]], or a substitute for it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rennin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[run]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}