(UTC)
Cheese existed in Old English and is untraceable before that, as it occurs in many Old Germanic tongues:
[OE. (Anglian) cése, (WSax.) *cíese, cýse (with i- umlaut from céasi, c{aeacu}si) = OHG. châsi (MHG. kæse, Ger. käse), OLG. kâsi, kêsi (MDu. kâse, Du. kaas):{em}WGer. *kâsi, ad. L. c{amac}se-us cheese (bef. 5th c.).] According to the OED. No Latin mentioned anywhere, though I don't doubt that thw words should sound similar, as cheese would have been made in the indo-European period, and there may be a much much older connection as with the word Brother (similar in Greek, Latin, Germanic languages, and Indian Sanskrit). I do not know specifically about cheese, but maybe someone else does? It certainly existed in English before it was English (Anglo Saxon fron Anglian... etc)
Thanks  10:52, 12 May 2006