Formaggio
The Italian word for cheese, from the Latin for the mould in which curd was shaped.
Also: formaggi, cacio
Formaggio comes from the Latin caseus formaticus, cheese made in a form or mould, and shares its root with the French fromage. Italian also keeps the older word cacio, from caseus, which survives in names such as caciocavallo and cacio e pepe, and in southern Italy is still the everyday word. Italy has hundreds of local formaggi, from fresh mozzarella and ricotta to aged grana and pecorino, and a vocabulary to match: stagionato for aged, fresco for fresh, stravecchio for very old, and DOP for protected names. The plural is formaggi. The cheesemonger is a formaggiaio and the cheesemaker a casaro.