Everyday LifeGreek → English
Masticate
/ˈmæstɪkeɪt/verb
To chew food until it is ready to swallow.
The Greek roots
μαστιχᾶν
mastichân
to gnash the teeth
Literally: “to grind with the teeth”
Follow a root:μαστιχᾶν2 words
The story of the word
Late Latin masticare came straight from the Greek verb for grinding the teeth, and English took it in the seventeenth century as a decorous substitute for chew. It shares a root with mastic, the Chios resin that people chewed for the taste. Diet books and physiology papers keep it alive; in speech it sounds either clinical or faintly comic.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
masticmasseter
In a sentence
The leaflet advised patients to masticate each mouthful thoroughly.