pecorino
UK[ˌpekəˈriːnəʊ]US[ˌpekəˈriːnoʊ]
n
a hard italian cheese made from sheep's milk.
Etymology
the word 'pecorino' is a direct borrowing from italian, entering english in the 19th century to name this specific cheese. it derives from the italian 'pecora', meaning 'sheep', which itself originates from the latin 'pecus', meaning 'cattle' or 'livestock'. this latin term is rooted in the proto-indo-european peḱu-, denoting movable wealth or domestic animals. the semantic journey from the general concept of livestock in ancient times to the specific modern meaning of a sheep's milk cheese perfectly illustrates how a word for a valuable asset ('pecus') specialized, through italian, to label a prized culinary product.
Analysis
the word is a loanword from italian. it is not productively segmented into meaningful english substrings. the italian root 'pecor-' relates to 'pecora' (sheep).
Examples
the pasta was finished with a generous grating of aged pecorino.
pecorino romano is a popular variety often used as a grating cheese.
she compared the sharp, salty flavor of pecorino to that of parmesan.