Etymology

vernix caseosa

Today it means: The waxy or "cheesy" white substance found coating the skin of newborn humans. Full definition →

Latin vernix
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromvernix“varnish”
  2. English todayvernix caseosa

From Latin vernix (“varnish”) + caseosa (“cheesy”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.