rennet
noun/ˈɹɛnɪt/
Etymology
From Middle English rennet, from Old English *rynnet, *ġerynnet, from Proto-West Germanic *garunniþu (“coagulation, curdling, rennet”), cognate with Old Saxon girunnida (“a running together, coagulation”), Old High German girunnida (“rennet, coagulation”), Middle High German gerinnede (“that which is curdled”). Compare also Middle English renelesse, renels, renlys, rendlys (“rennet”), Middle Dutch rinsel, runsel (“rennet”), German Rennsel; further to Middle English irennen (“to curdle; to run”), Old English ġerennan (“to coagulate”), Old High German girunst (“rennet”), German gerinnen (“to coagulate; congeal”).
An enzyme used as the first step in making cheese, to curdle the milk and coagulate the casein in it, derived by soaking the fourth stomach of a milk-fed calf in brine.
- Derived terms
- cheese rennet, nonrennet, rennase, rennet cheese, renneted, rennetless, rennet stomach, rennety, rennin, vegetable rennet
- Coordinate terms
- coagulant