Grasa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A greasy or oily substance found in animals and plants used for energy storage or cooking; a layer of fatty tissue beneath the skin; a lubricant that reduces friction in machinery
2. An oily material derived from living organisms serving as nourishment or fuel; a protective tissue composed of lipids beneath the skin; a slippery substance applied to minimize wear between moving parts
3. A fatty compound originating from biological sources utilized as food or energy reserve; the adipose tissue that insulates and cushions the body; a slick agent that facilitates smooth movement of mechanical components

Etymology: "Grasa" is the Spanish and Portuguese word for fat, and it is one of the few English-adjacent words whose route into English runs through a language most speakers would not expect: it is not a direct English borrowing at all, but reached English through Latin's descendants. The word comes from Late Latin "crassa", the feminine of "crassus", meaning thick or dense, which also gave English "crass" in the sense of coarse or lacking refinement. The same Latin root, through the same kind of sense shift from physical thickness to moral coarseness, is behind the English word for thick oily matter. The idea behind the word is simple: fat was understood as the thick part of an animal, the substance that set apart from lean flesh. Spanish and Portuguese kept the Latin form much as it was, and it is from these languages that English speakers encountered the word in cooking, cosmetics and industry. Because the Iberian forms are direct descendants of Latin rather than later inventions, the word reflects a continuous chain of use stretching back almost two thousand years.

Synonyms: fat, grease, lard, oil, butter

Antonyms: lean, thinness, slimness