pizza word

Hi Bart
The origin of the word pizza is uncertain and highly disputed. There are 5 main theories. The word dates fro 997 CE and comes from a latin text from the town of Gaeta in Southern Italy.

Theories

1. derived from an Old High German word "bizzo" or "pizzo" meaning "mouthful" and was brought to Italy in the middle of the 6th century CE by the Lombards. The Oxford English Dictionary favors this.

2. derived from the Latin word "pinsa" which means to pound or crush and refers to the flattening of the dough.

3. derives from the Italian word "pizzicare" meaning "to pluck" and refers to pizza being "plucked" quickly from the oven.

4. derives from the Latin word "picea" which describes the blackening of bread in the oven or the black ash that gathers at the bottom of the oven

5. derives from the word pita, referring to bread in general, tracing the word to a cognate for pine pitch, which forms layers that may resemble pita bread.

So, there you have it..Pick whichever one you like..and remember no matter where the word originated, the fact remains that pizza is wonderful!!! no? J

Hi Bart, indeed the word pizza is derived from the Greek word pizza which I am unable to spell for you on this keyboard unfortuantely. This is accepted fact as the word simply comes from the Greek invention of pizza which was invented in the Greek outdoor bread ovens.