pizza

The earliest secure record is a Latin document from Gaeta dated 997 CE using piza. By the 11th–12th centuries, southern Italian sources show piza and pizza. The modern Italian spelling pizza stabilized by the 16th century. The word named a flatbread or baked dish in Naples by the 1700s.

The deeper origin is debated, but the earliest texts are Latin in southern Italy. One plausible link is to Greek pitta, a flatbread word known in the region. Another proposal ties it to Lombardic or Germanic words for bite or piece. The historical record centers on southern Italy regardless of the deeper source.

The modern pizza as a topped flatbread is closely tied to Naples in the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1889, the Margherita legend placed the dish in national imagination. English borrowed pizza by the early 20th century as the food spread. The spelling stayed Italian.

In English, pizza names the dish and its slices. The word now spans classic Neapolitan, Roman, and global styles. The meaning expanded with new toppings and forms. The earliest attestation still anchors the story.