fat English · revision 2770

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 900|origins=gem-pro *faitaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fæt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fat]], fatt,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|fǣtt|t=fat, fatted, plump]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) originally the contracted past participle of [[m|ang|fǣtan|t=to cram, stuff]], fǣttian,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*faitidaz|alt=*faitida|t=fatted]], from the verb *faitjan “to fatten”, from [[m|gem-pro|*faitaz|t=plump, fat]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Frisian fatt, Dutch vet, German fett and feist, and Old Norse feitr.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Watkins reconstructs [[ine-pro|*poid-|t=to abound in water, milk, fat]],^(Etymonline) and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Latin opīmus “fat, fertile”, Greek pīmelḗ “fat” and Sanskrit pī́vas “fat”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The noun is from the adjective.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fatted, plump: before 900, in Alfred's translation of Orosius.^(Barnhart 1988) People have been described as fat since Anglo-Saxon times.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, the fat part of anything, is from the mid-14th century,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the richest or choicest part from late Middle English, surviving in ''the fat of the land'', from Pharaoh's promise to Joseph in Genesis,^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021) and fat as a component of animal bodies from the 1530s.^(Etymonline) The adjective's sense “prosperous, abounding in comforts” is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) ''The fat is in the fire'' first meant “the plan has failed” (1560s).^(Etymonline) The old verb survives only in the biblical ''fatted calf'', replaced by ''fatten'' (1552).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In slang, ''fat chance'', “no chance at all”, is from 1905, perhaps ironic,^(Etymonline) ''fat cat'', a rich and privileged person, from 1928,^(Etymonline) and fat for “attractive, up to date”, later spelled phat, from 1951.^(Etymonline) ''Fathead'' is from 1842 and ''fatso'' from 1943.^(Etymonline) Orwell (1939) and Cyril Connolly (1944) both wrote of the thin man inside every fat one.^(Cresswell 2021) In chemistry, fat is any of the esters of glycerol and fatty acids.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 900 – fatted, plump.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – noun, the fat part.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – prosperous.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530s – body fat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1552 – ''fatten''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – ''the fat is in the fire''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1905 – ''fat chance''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – ''fat cat''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having much or too much flesh; [[plump]] or [[obese]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Containing much fat or grease.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Thick or large: ''a fat book''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Rich, fertile or profitable: ''a fat salary''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' Very little: ''fat chance''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The soft, greasy tissue under the skin of animals and people.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Any of a group of oily substances, esters of [[glycerol]] and fatty acids, found in animals and plants; such a substance used in cooking.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The best or richest part: ''the fat of the land''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # Excess or unnecessary material: ''trim the fat''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fatly]]

+ * [[fatness]]

+ * [[fatless]]

+ * [[fatlike]]

+ * [[butterfat]]

+ * [[defat]]

+ * [[fatback]]

+ * [[fat-soluble]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fatten]]

+ * [[fatty]]

+ * [[fathead]]

+ * [[fatso]]

+ * [[fat cat]]

+ * [[phat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words spelled ''fat'' are an archaic variant of [[vat]], from Old English fæt,^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) and a rare 19th-century noun for a conceited dandy, from French fat, from Latin fatuus “foolish”.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}