cheese English · revision 4382

+ English has two nouns spelled ''cheese'': the food, from Latin caseus, and a slang word for “the right thing”, from Urdu chīz “thing”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʃiːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|food}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=800|origins=la caseus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|chese]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|ċēse]], Anglian, and cȳse, West Saxon,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gmw-pro|*kāsī|alt=*kasjus]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Saxon kāsi, German Käse and Dutch kaas,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) an early borrowing from [[la|cāseus|t=cheese]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which also gave Italian cacio, Spanish queso and Welsh caws.^(Etymonline) The Latin word is of uncertain origin:^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Watkins suggests a root *kwat- “to ferment, become sour”, but de Vaan finds no etymology without weak assumptions and suggests a loanword.^(Etymonline) The Scandinavian words, Danish and Swedish ost, are unrelated.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English cāse is from 800, in an early glossary, and cyse from before 1000, in Ælfric's Colloquy;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first quotation is from before 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The earliest references are to pressed curds of milk; pressed or moulded cheeses with rinds are from the 14th century,^(Etymonline) 1362 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The surname Chesemangere is from 1186.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Chalk and cheese'' is from about 1425.^(OED 1989) Other cheese-like substances are called cheese from the 1530s.^(Etymonline) As a photographer's word to make people smile, and school slang for a smile, it is from 1930.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Hard cheese'', bad luck, is from 1876.^(OED 1989) ''Big cheese'', an important person, is from 1914 in American English and probably belongs with this word,^(Etymonline) and ''cut a big cheese'', to look important, is from 1915.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 800 – Old English cāse.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1186 – the surname Chesemangere.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1362 – a whole cheese.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530s – cheese-like substances.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1876 – ''hard cheese''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1914 – ''big cheese''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – ''say cheese''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A solid food made from the pressed curd of [[milk]], often seasoned and aged.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A moulded mass of this food.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something like cheese in shape or consistency.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' ''big cheese'': an important person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cheesy]]

+ * [[cheesecake]]

+ * [[cheesecloth]]

+ * [[cheesed off]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|the right thing}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1818|origins=fa چیز}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably from Urdu chīz “thing”, [[bor|fa|چیز|tr=čiz|t=thing]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Wiktionary) from Old Persian *ciš-ciy “something”,^(Etymonline) picked up by the British in India.^(Etymonline) Wiktionary notes that the word does not appear first in Anglo-Indian sources, which casts doubt on this.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1818, as slang for the right or correct thing, anything first-rate.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used especially in the phrase ''the real chiz'', a big thing.^(Etymonline) Wealth and fame, and an important person, are from before 1910 in the OED,^(OED 1989) but Etymonline thinks the American ''big cheese'' more likely belongs to the food word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1818 – the right thing.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * a. 1910 – an important person.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dated slang)'' ''the cheese'': the right or proper thing.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[casein]]

+ * [[queso]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The slang verb ''cheese it'', stop, run off, is from 1812, in thieves' slang, of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}