Having a sour, unpleasant smell or taste, usually because fat or oil has gone bad and spoiled.
From Latin 'rancidus,' related to 'rancere' meaning 'to be rancid' or 'to stink.' The Romans had this word to describe spoiled fats and oils, and the meaning has stayed almost identical for 2,000 years.
The Romans were so familiar with spoiled butter and oil that they had a specific word for it—'rancidus'—showing that food spoilage is as old as civilization itself! And butter turning rancid is such an unpleasant experience that the word now means anything disgustingly bad.
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