pizza

American  

[peet-suh] / ˈpit sə /

noun

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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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

Eventually, I had a pizza crust of a sort—not round, not 10½ inches, but close enough.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

The Margherita pizza calls for a simple sauce—uncooked and made from quality canned tomatoes blended up with a bit of salt.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Even if the free pizza was gone, attendees were still lining up for pretzel bites and beer cheese.

From Slate • May 20, 2026

Red card, consolation pizza for USA soccer fans.

From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026

Everybody said this was a great way to advertise fire prevention, and they congratulated the mayor and the fire chief for thinking it up, and the fire chief congratulated Mr. Santoro for donating the pizza.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson