jelly [LME] In the Middle Ages jelly was a savoury dish of meat or fish set in a mould of aspic. The first references to fruit-flavoured jellies are not found until the mid 18th century. The word comes ultimately from the Latin word gelare ‘to freeze’. For jellies to jell [M19th] you need gelatine [E19th] from the same root, which was shortened to give us gel [L19th]. See also cold.