yeasty
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Meaning
of or resembling yeast, especially in being frothy or fermenting.
characterized by unrest, excitement, or change; full of vitality and new ideas.
Structure
Usage
the yeasty smell of baking bread filled the kitchen.
his mind was yeasty with new and exciting plans.
the critic dismissed the play as a yeasty piece of work, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.
Etymology
The word 'yeasty' is a straightforward English formation from the noun 'yeast' and the adjectival suffix '-y'. The noun 'yeast' itself has Germanic roots, deriving from Old English 'gist' or 'gyst', which referred to the froth or sediment produced during fermentation. This Old English term is cognate with similar words in other Germanic languages, all pointing back to a Proto-Germanic source related to fermentation and foam. The modern adjective 'yeasty' thus literally means "full of or resembling yeast," a sense which was metaphorically extended by shakespeare and later writers to describe things characterized by a frothy, insubstantial, or fermentative and energetic quality.
Analysis
yeast (origin: old english 'gist', 'gyst', meaning ferment, foam) + y (origin: old english '-ig', an adjective-forming suffix meaning "characterized by, full of").