Meanings
- A soft, slightly crumbly, mould-ripened cheese made in the French region of Normandy.
They gave us some such eggs, cream like a custard, and a Neufchâtel cheese; some brown, but such sweet bread;—we never enjoyed a meal so much.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 264
Origin
French, from the region Neufchâtel-en-Bray in Normandy. The placename is originally inspired by the Celtic/Gaulish name Novientum (“new establishment”), reflecting its beginnings as a primitive Gaulish settlement in ancient Normandy. In the 12th century, Henry I Beauclerc, Duke of Normandy, constructed a castle there, initially named Chastel-Nof which evolved into Neufcastel by the 13th century. Over time, the pronunciation shifted, muting the [f] in neuf, resulting in the modern Neufchâtel, a change influenced by educational standardization similar to other toponyms like Neuchâtel. Compare English Newcastle.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Neufchâtel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Neufch%C3%A2tel
“Neufchâtel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Neufch%C3%A2tel. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Neufchâtel,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Neufch%C3%A2tel.
Source: Neufchâtel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.