Colostrum, the first milk secreted by the mother after giving birth, comes from the Latin colostra, a word with the same meaning used by the Romans. Colostra appeared in English in the late 16th century, joining the equivalent terms of "beestings" and "green milk" (both of which, unfortunately, having since disappeared from the language).

By the early 19th century, the spelling had changed to colostrum.

Aulus Plautius, the politician and general who lead the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 A.D., used colostra as a word of endearment: Meum mel, meum cor, mea colostra: "my honey, my heart, my colostra".