The Italian word for mustard is SENAPE, which comes from the Latin SINAPE. This was an import from the Greek where mustard was called SINAPI, a word of Egyptian origin. It comes as no surprise that the Italian word should come from Latin. It is interesting, though, that the German word, (SENF) the Norwegian (SENNEP) and the Swedish all come from the Latin too while the English appears to be unrelated.

The English word, MUSTARD, belongs to a completely different family with the French (MOUTARDE) and Spanish (MOSTAZA). All of these words derive from the word MUST, newly pressed grape juice. In fact, the link, in English, is not direct as the word MUSTARD came to us in the thirteenth century from Old French MOUSTARDE. This derived in turn from MUSTUM, the Latin for must, because the original condiment was made by adding must to the seeds.

The original Latin word for mustard has found its way, however, into both English and French. SINAPISM is the technical term in English and SINAPISME in French for a mustard plaster or poultice. Conversely, in Italian, MOSTARDA is a local speciality consisting of candied fruit in a mustard sauce from Cremona in the Po valley, famous as the birthplace of Stradivarius. In Sicily, the word is used to refer to a sweet made with boiled must.

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