22 Feb
2023
22 Feb
'23
10:25 a.m.
Bagel:
"ring-shaped hard bread roll," 1912 (beigel), from Yiddish beygl, from
Middle High German boug- "ring, bracelet," from Old High German boug "a
ring," related to Old English beag "ring" (in poetry, an Anglo-Saxon lord
was beaggifa"ring-giver"), from Proto-Germanic *baugaz, from PIE root
*bheug-
<https://www.etymonline.com/word/*bheug-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> "to
bend," with derivatives referring to curved objects.
Cream:
early 14c., creyme, "the rich and buttery part of milk," from Old
French cresme,
craime, creme"chrism, holy oil" (13c., Modern French crème). This word is a
blend of Late Latin chrisma"ointment" (from Greek khrisma "unguent;"
from
PIE root *ghrei-
<https://www.etymonline.com/word/*ghrei-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> "to
rub") and Late Latin cramum "cream," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps
from Gaulish. The French word replaced Old English ream; it was re-borrowed
19c. as creme
<https://www.etymonline.com/word/creme?ref=etymonline_crossreference>.
From early 15c. as "dish or confection made from or resembling cream." The
figurative sense of "most excellent element or part" is from 1580s. It is
attested from 1660s as "any part that separates from the rest and rises to
the surface" and also in its application to substances resembling cream.
Cream-cheese is from 1580s. Cream-soda is attested by from 1854.
Cream-colored (also cream-coloured) "having the pale, yellowish-white color
of cream," is from 1707.
Cheese:
"curd of milk coagulated, separated from the whey, pressed, and used as
food," Old English cyse (West Saxon), cese (Anglian) "cheese," from West
Germanic *kasjus (source also of Old Saxon kasi, Old High German chasi,
German Käse, Middle Dutch case, Dutch kaas), from Latin caseus "cheese"
(source of Italian cacio, Spanish queso, Irish caise, Welsh caws).
This is of unknown origin; perhaps (Watkins) from a PIE root *kwat- "to
ferment, become sour" (source also of Prakrit chasi "buttermilk;" Old
Church Slavonic kvasu "leaven; fermented drink," kyselu "sour,"
-kyseti "to
turn sour;" Czech kysati "to turn sour, rot;" Sanskrit
kvathati"boils,
seethes;" Gothic hwaþjan "foam").
But de Vaan writes, "no etymology can be found which does not require some
poorly-founded assumptions," and suggests a loan-word. Also compare fromage
<https://www.etymonline.com/word/fromage?ref=etymonline_crossreference>.
Old Norse ostr, Danish ost, Swedish ost are related to Latin ius"broth,
sauce, juice."
The earliest references would be to compressed curds of milk used as food;
pressed or molded cheeses with rinds are from 14c. Transferred to other
cheese-like substances by 1530s. As a photographer's word to make subjects
hold a smile, it is attested from 1930, but in a reminiscence of schoolboy
days, which suggests an earlier use. Probably for the forced smile involved
in making the -ee- sound.
Green cheese is that newly made; the notion that the moon is made of green
cheese as a type of a ridiculous assertion is from 1520s. To make
cheeses (1835)
was a schoolgirls' amusement of wheeling rapidly so one's petticoats blew
out in a circle then dropping down so they came to rest inflated and
resembling a wheel of cheese; hence, used figuratively for "a deep curtsy."
Bartlett ("Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848) defines head cheese as "The
ears and feet of swine cut up fine, and, after being boiled, pressed into
the form of a cheese."
SKP