Etymology
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romaine (adj.)

type of lettuce, 1876, from French romaine (in laitue romaine, literally "Roman lettuce"), from fem. of Old French romain "Roman," from Latin Romanus (see Roman). Ayto ["Diner's Dictionary," 1990] defines it as "The American term for the long-leaved lettuce usually known to British-speakers as the cos lettuce," and writes that the name probably arose because it was imported into Western Europe from the eastern Mediterranean at first via the port of Rome. He compares Italian lattuga romana and notes that "the earliest English term for it, dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century, was Roman lettuce."

Entries linking to romaine

Roman 

noun and adjective, Old English, "of or pertaining to ancient Rome; an inhabitant or native of ancient Rome," from Latin Romanus "of Rome, Roman," from Roma "Rome" (see Rome). The adjective is c. 1300, from Old French Romain. The Old English adjective was romanisc, which yielded Middle English Romanisshe.

In reference to a type of numeral (usually contrasted to Arabic) it is attested from 1728; as a type of lettering (based on the upright style typical of Roman inscriptions, contrasted to Gothic, or black letter, and italic) it is recorded from 1510s. The Roman nose, having a prominent upper part, is so called by 1620s. The Roman candle as a type of fireworks is recorded from 1834. Roman Catholic is attested from c. 1600, a conciliatory formation from the time of the Spanish Match, replacing Romanist, Romish which by that time had the taint of insult in Protestant England.

updated on March 02, 2022

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Dictionary entries near romaine

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