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

He pointed to the new individual-size pizza as an example.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The change came amid a challenging time for the pizza sector, which is wrestling with sluggish sales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Deep dish pizza for all, but a World Series in Chicago this fall might truly require divine intervention.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

The items on the tabletop skid to the ground as Inkling launches himself at Gillicut’s pizza.

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins

Appetronix is working on newer versions of the technology that it claims will assemble pizzas at a furious pace.

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

“The principal has declared that next Friday is Quiz Team Day, and the entire school is being treated to free pizzas and sodas!”

From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper