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fet·a

(fĕtə, fātə)

A white semisoft cheese usually made of goat's or sheep's milk and often preserved in brine.

[Modern Greek féta, short for tyrí féta, feta cheese, from féta, slice, from Italian fetta, slice, from Old Italian, slice, ultimately (via the reanalysis of *l'offetta, the slice, as la fetta, the slice) from *offetta, slice, diminutive of *offa, from Latin offa, morsel of food, of unknown origin.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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