pesto

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pesto

/ˈpɛstoʊ/ US
/ˈpɛstəʊ/ UK

Rhymes with -ɛstəʊ

Where it comes from

Appears 1850 in Cottage economy, attributed to William Cobbett (but not found in any editions published during his life). From Italian pesto, from Latin pistus (“crushed, pounded”), from Latin pīnsō (“to pound, beat, crush”). Cognate to pestle.

noun pestos

uncountable, usually A sauce, especially for pasta, originating from the Genoa region in Italy, made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and cheese (usually pecorino). For variation, easy cooking and good eating, slather some pesto on the fish of your choice and bake.

Translations

Every language

noun an Italian sauce especially for pasta

Español	pesto
한국어	페스토 peseuto
日本語	ペスト・ジェノヴェーゼ pesuto jenovēze, ペスト pesuto
中文	香蒜沙司 xiāngsuàn shāsī, 香蒜醬 /香蒜酱 xiāngsuànjiàng
Français	pesto
Deutsch	Pesto
Italiano	pesto
Ελληνικά	πέστο pésto
Русский	пе́сто pésto
العربية	بِيسْتُو bīstū, بِسْتُو bistū
עברית	פֶּסְטוֹ pɛsṭō

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MLA

"pesto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pesto. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pesto. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pesto

Chicago

"pesto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pesto.

BibTeX

@misc{pesto_2026,
  title = {pesto},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pesto},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}