sopaipilla

[ soh-pahy-pee-uh; Spanish saw-pahy-pee-yah ]

noun

, Mexican Cooking.

, plural so·pai·pil·las [soh-pahy-, pee, -, uh, z, saw-pahy-, pee, -yahs].

1. a small pastry made of deep-fried yeast dough and usually dipped in honey.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sopaipilla¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from Latin American Spanish, equivalent to Spanish sopaip(a) “fritter or thick pancake soaked in honey” (earlier also xopaipa, from Mozarabic, derivative of šúppa, súppa “piece of bread soaked in oil,” Spanish sopa, from Germanic; sop, soup ) + -illa diminutive suffix