Pizza

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpiːtsÉ™/
• US IPA: /ˈpitsÉ™/

Alternative forms

• pitza South African English

Origin

1935 Borrowing from it {{2}} Italian pizza, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Byzantine Greek πίττα (pitta, "cake, pie"), from Ancient Greek πίσσα (pissa, "pitch"), Attic πίττα (pitta), from πεπτός (peptos, "cooked") or from Langobardic pizza ("bit, bite"), or from Latin pinso ("I beat, pound").

Full definition of pizza

Noun

1. (uncountable) A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread dough crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat, vegetables or fruita slice of pizzaa pizza pieWant to go out for pizza tonight?
2. (countable) A single instance of this dishHe ate a whole pizza!Should we cook a frozen pizza for dinner?

Usage notes

In phrases like pizza bread and pizza bagel, pizza refers to the toppings.

Synonyms

• pizza pie
• pie

Derived terms