pasta
Pluralpastas (some meanings)
- 1Food made from flour, water, and sometimes egg, formed into many shapes, then boiled. Also one kind or shape of it.
Like bread dough, but cut into shapes and dropped into hot water.
We keep dried pasta in the cupboard for quick dinners.
She stirred the pasta into a pot of boiling water.
UsageSay some pasta or just pasta: we had pasta for dinner.
- 2A plate of cooked noodles served as a meal, often with sauce.
We ordered pasta for dinner at the little trattoria.
We had pasta with tomato sauce for dinner tonight.
UsageSay a bowl of pasta, and pasta with a sauce.
- 3Any kind of noodle, no matter how it is made.
This Asian pasta is made from rice, not wheat.
He buys pasta of every kind, from udon to spaghetti.
Similarnoodles
Less common meaning
- 4A soft material that a dentist puts into a tooth to fill a hole.
Practice
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Origin
It comes from Italian pasta, meaning "paste" or "noodles." This goes back to a Greek word for a barley porridge and a word meaning "sprinkled with salt."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- English pasta comes from Italian pasta. en.wikipedia.org
- Italian pasta means paste or noodles. en.wiktionary.org
- The word traces back to a Greek word meaning barley porridge. en.wiktionary.org
- The Greek ancestry includes a word meaning sprinkled with salt. en.wiktionary.org