pizza

American  

[peet-suh] / ˈpit sə /

noun

• pizzas
  plural

1. 

   a flat, open-faced baked pie of Italian origin, consisting of a thin layer of bread dough topped with spiced tomato sauce and cheese, often garnished with anchovies, sausage slices, mushrooms, etc.

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pizza British  

/ ˈpiːtsə /

noun

1. a dish of Italian origin consisting of a baked disc of dough covered with cheese and tomatoes, usually with the addition of mushrooms, anchovies, sausage, or ham

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pizzas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pizza

1930–35; < Italian pizza (variant pitta ), perhaps ultimately < Greek; Cf. pḗtea bran, pētítēs bran bread

Explanation

Pizza is a round, baked crust topped with melted cheese and tomato sauce. If you order a slice of pepperoni, you must like pizza. Pizza was an Italian invention, but over the years it's become extremely popular all around the world. The first recorded use of the word pizza (literally "pie" in Italian) was in the tenth century, in a Latin document that stipulated delivery of duodecim pizze, or "twelve pizzas" to a certain bishop on Christmas Day. Pizza as we know it today was created in Naples sometime during the nineteenth century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pizza pizzas

One night, he asked me to go to Bar Chloe in Santa Monica for wine and pizza.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

They made pizza and played video games and rode Walters’ motorcycle, sparking a lifelong interest.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

It’s as if the Windy City were suddenly known for mild winters and thin-crust pizza.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

At Lumpia City, look for crisp lumpia in playful flavors like ube butter banana French toast, which won a Sporkie in 2025, or pizza stuffed with gooey cheese, pepperoni and sausage.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Pretended to be a pizza delivery when I wouldn’t open up. Never did get my pizza. But she was gone quickly. Said she needed to get back to her brother. That’d be you.”

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Besides Picnic, other companies that have come and gone include Zume, external and Pazzi, which used, external robot arms to assemble pizzas, as well as Basil Street, external, a purveyor of pizza vending machines.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Repelled, Nancy replies that she will be happily spending her summer slinging pizzas in Provincetown.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Devour some books … and pizza: Pizza Hut’s Book It! program, which rewarded children for reading with personal pan pizzas, is part of the lore of countless childhood readers turned adults.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

He delivered pizzas until 1 a.m. up to four nights a week during the academic year, not “getting very much sleep at all,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

Even though it’s kinda sad that some body as dope as Ms. Tique has to make pizzas for a living.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas