pizza
English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Português · Tiếng Việt · Română · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
pizza¹
- /ˈpiː.tsə/ UK
- /ˈpi.tsə/ US
Rhymes with -iːtsə, -iːzə
Where it comes from
First attested in 1931, borrowed from Neapolitan pizza (1590), of uncertain origin. Possibly related to Medieval Greek πίτα (píta, “cake, pie”), attested in 1107 and itself of uncertain origin.
The northern Italian dialectal form was pinza, the southern (Apulian and Calabrian) form was pitta. This suggests a derivation from Latin pīnctus (pictus (“painted, smeared”)) or pīnsum, pīnsitum, pistum (“pounded”), but the northern forms appear to be contaminated with pinzare (“to staple”).
There are alternative suggestions involving Greek etymologies (πηκτή (pēktḗ), πηκτός (pēktós, “compacted, congealed”); πήτεα (pḗtea, “bran”); Ancient Greek πιττάκιον (pittákion, “patch; tablet; ticket”)), more remote possibilities involve comparison with Lombardic pizzo, pizza (“bite, morsel, lump, dumpling”); Albanian petë (“layer”), Romanian pată (“blotch, stain, macula”); Albanian pite (“gruel”);
From Aramaic פִיתָּא (pītā, “piece of bread”), Hebrew פַּת (paṯ, “bread”). Possibly doublet of pide and pita.
noun pizzas · pizze · pitza
-
A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables.
a slice of pizza
Similar: 'za
- A single instance of this dish. He ate a whole pizza!
- snowplow: a maneuver in which the tips of the skis or skates point inwards and the back ends point outwards.
Pizza²
proper noun Pizzas
- A surname from Italian.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pizza pie, pie, pizzeria, slice, hungry, starving, quentin, boston, cheese pie, tomato pie, za, deep-dish pie, pizzer, calzone, pizza sauce, pizza casserole
Translations
Every language
noun Italian dish
| Español | pizza |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 피자 pija |
| 日本語 | ピザ piza, ピッツァ pittsa, ピザパイ pizapai |
| 中文 | 比薩 /比萨 bǐsà, 披薩 /披萨 pīsà, 比薩餅 /比萨饼 bǐsàbǐng |
| हिन्दी | पिज़ा pizā, पिज़्ज़ा pizzā |
| Português | pizza, piza, pitsa, pítiça |
| Français | pizza |
| Deutsch | Pizza |
| Italiano | pizza |
| Ελληνικά | πίτσα pítsa |
| Română | pizza |
| Русский | пи́цца pícca |
| Tiếng Việt | bánh pizza, pizza |
| العربية | بِيتْزَا bītzā |
| עברית | פִּיצָה pítsa |
Talk about this word "pizza." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pizza. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pizza. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pizza "pizza." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pizza.Cite this
@misc{pizza_2026,
title = {pizza},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pizza},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
