cheese

A1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /t͡ʃiːz/ UK /t͡ʃiːz/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like seize /tʃ/ vs /s/

Freq #1841

Meanings

1

noun
A solid food made from milk, often yellow or white.

I'd like a cheese sandwich, please.
2

noun
Something that is overly emotional or too obviously sentimental.

The film's ending was pure cheese, but I still enjoyed it.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

fromagegamebreakingmoney

Opposites

fill

Word family

Forms cheeses

Derived forms apple-cheesebread-and-cheesechafflecheesablecheese-bailcheese-boardcheese-borercheese-bowlcheese-boxcheese-bugcheese-cementcheese-clout

Related forms butter cream milkturophileyogurt

Appears in

Phrases (5)

See all

cheese slicer
a utensil designed to cut thin even slices of cheese

Noun + noun
cottage cheese
a mild white cheese consisting of soft, moist curds

Noun + noun
cream cheese
a soft fresh cheese made from milk and cream

Noun + noun
goat cheese
cheese made from the milk of goats

Noun + noun
grilled cheese
a toasted sandwich whose main filling is cheese

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

The late-19th-century American slang expression big cheese denotes an important or influential person. Here cheese almost certainly has no connection with food and probably comes from Urdu and Persian cīz, meaning “thing.”

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin cāseusbor. Proto-Germanic *kāsijaz Proto-West Germanic *kāsī Old English ċīese Middle English chese English cheese From Middle English chese, from Anglian Old English ċīese, from Proto-West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed from Latin cāseus. Doublet of queso. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Síes (“cheese”), West Frisian tsiis (“cheese”), Dutch kaas (“cheese”), German Low German Kees (“cheese”), German Käse (“cheese”).

chese Middle English ċīese Old English *kāsī Proto-West Germanic cāseus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# cheese

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /t͡ʃiːz/
**IPA (UK):** /t͡ʃiːz/
**Frequency rank:** 1841

## Meanings
1. A solid food made from milk, often yellow or white.
2. Something that is overly emotional or too obviously sentimental.

## Examples
- I'd like a cheese sandwich, please.
- The film's ending was pure cheese, but I still enjoyed it.

## Synonyms
- fromage
- gamebreaking
- money

## Antonyms
- fill

## Derived Forms
- apple-cheese
- bread-and-cheese
- chaffle
- cheesable
- cheese-bail
- cheese-board
- cheese-borer
- cheese-bowl
- cheese-box
- cheese-bug
- cheese-cement
- cheese-clout

## Related Forms
- butter
- cream
- milk
- turophile
- yogurt

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: chese
- Root: ċīese
- Root: *kāsī
- Root: cāseus

## Etymology
Etymology tree Latin cāseusbor. Proto-Germanic *kāsijaz Proto-West Germanic *kāsī Old English ċīese Middle English chese English cheese From Middle English chese, from Anglian Old English ċīese, from Proto-West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed from Latin cāseus. Doublet of queso. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Síes (“cheese”), West Frisian tsiis (“cheese”), Dutch kaas (“cheese”), German Low German Kees (“cheese”), German Käse (“cheese”).

## AI Etymology
cheese is a verb and noun. It is from Middle English chese, from Anglian Old English ċīese, from Proto-West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed from Latin cāseus. Doublet of queso. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Síes (“cheese”), West Frisian tsiis (“cheese”), Dutch kaas (“cheese”), German Low German Kees (“cheese”), German Käse (“cheese”). Historical forms in the chain include chese (Middle English), ċīese (Old English), *kāsī (Proto-West Germanic), and cāseus (Latin). Current senses include a solid food made from milk, often yellow or white and something that is overly emotional or too obviously sentimental. Derived forms include apple-cheese, bread-and-cheese, chaffle, cheesable, and cheese-bail. Related words include butter, cream, milk, and turophile.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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