feta
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of feta
1935–40; < Modern Greek, short for tyrì phéta, equivalent to tyrí cheese ( Greek tyrós ) + phéta slice < Italian fetta ( see fettuccine)
Explanation
Feta is a crumbly, tangy cheese that's traditionally made from sheep's milk. Feta is an ingredient in many Greek foods, like spanakopita, or spinach pie. If you've tasted feta, you know what a distinctly sharp, salty flavor this soft white cheese has. Traditional feta is formed into blocks and cured in brine to give it that taste. You can crumble feta into salads, omelets, sandwiches, or anything else that needs a little extra salt or tanginess. Feta is from the Modern Greek tyri pheta, "slice of cheese."
Vocabulary lists containing feta
Cheesy Goodness
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5th Grade World Cuisine, List 3
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The Turtle of Michigan
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Its menu includes gussied-up side dishes like honey-glazed carrots with whipped feta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
A cube of feta tucked into a tomato salad.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
Tossed with olive oil, tomatoes, jalapeño, feta and Parmesan cheese, the expertly al dente Rustichella rigatoni is not your everyday mac ‘n’ cheese dinner.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
Existing Australian producers will be allowed to call their product feta, but new dairy companies won’t be able to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
I was actually pretty good at finding ways to turn the vegetarian ground beef, beets, feta cheese, and apricots into something edible.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Our tasting included a farmhouse goat feta which was so different from what I've come to expect from fetas.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2022
You can use a generic supermarket feta, but for a finish that is smooth and salty, buy one of the tinned smooth fetas sold in Middle Eastern delis.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2017
"They have, like, four different kinds of Oaxacan cheese and eight different fetas," he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
