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

Somewhere between a pizza roll and a savory breakfast pastry, these start with prepared pizza dough.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Some of what you need may come from the market, especially at one with eggs, cheese, dairy or even pizza dough on offer; the rest can happily come from your pantry or the supermarket.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Comedian Randall Park plays an eccentric boss of a pizza shop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Basin, the drivers meet up and fuel up at Pinyon Ojai, a pizza restaurant on Ojai Avenue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

“No pizza, no gooey brownies with nuts, and no Cool Ranch,” I said.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

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

Starting next week, the pair plan to sell pizzas for delivery through UberEats from the truck parked outside Ramirez’s California Food Trucks business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Serve either spritz—or both, each takes five minutes to make—with olives, an antipasti plate or, if you’d rather order in, a couple of pizzas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

But the waitress came and silence fell as she put their pizzas in front of them.

From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness