paella

American  

[pahy-ey-yuh] / paɪˈeɪ jə /

noun

paellas plural

1. a Spanish dish prepared by simmering together chicken, seafood, rice, vegetables, and saffron and other seasonings.

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paella British  

/ paɪˈɛlə, paˈeʎa /

noun

1. a Spanish dish made from rice, shellfish, chicken, and vegetables

2. the large flat frying pan in which a paella is cooked

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paellas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paella

1890–95; < Spanish < Catalan: literally, frying pan, pot < Middle French paella < Latin patella pan. See patella.

Explanation

You're most likely to see paella on the menu at a Spanish restaurant. It's a stew-like dish that combines seafood or meat with rice and vegetables, usually cooked in a large, low-sided pan. This Spanish dish of saffroned rice, usually with seafood and chicken thrown in, is ultimately from a Latin word for "pan," patella , and thus joins a number of foods in which a required cooking utensil forms part of the name of the dish: "hotpot," "hoecake," and "spoon bread," to name a few.