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Cutlet

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a small piece of meat from the neck or ribs; a flat croquette

Where does the word "cutlet" come from? It comes from Latin costa, passing through French before entering English (1700s).

costa→côtelette→cutlet

Latin · classical

'rib', also the source of 'coast', the 'rib' or side of the land

French · 1600s

"small rib chop"

'little rib', a chop cut with its rib bone

English · 1700s

"thin slice of meat"

reshaped by association with 'cut'; the Victorian 'cutlet' became a staple of Anglo-Indian cooking

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Cutlet’s story begins in Latin: costa meant “rib.” 'rib', also the source of 'coast', the 'rib' or side of the land. By 1600s, the word had taken hold in French as côtelette. 'little rib', a chop cut with its rib bone. It reached English by 1700s as cutlet. Reshaped by association with 'cut'; the Victorian 'cutlet' became a staple of Anglo-Indian cooking. Today, cutlet means a small piece of meat from the neck or ribs; a flat croquette.