Are you wondering why pizza is called pizza? Or perhaps you’re curious about where the word pizza originated from. And how do you actually pronounce the word “pizza”? I’ve dug into the research to try to find the true origination of the word pizza, and here is what I found.
The word “pizza” was first found in the town of Gaeta in central Italy in the year 997 AD. The meaning of the word pizza is however a bit more unclear. The two leading theories are that it comes from the Lombardic word “pizzo”, meaning “mouthful” or “bite”. Or that it has the same origin as the Greek word “pitta”, that means a round, flatbread baked in a hot oven.
Where Does the Name Pizza Come From?
The most important piece of evidence was a document found during a study conducted in 2015. This was presented by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. It has long been believed that the word pizza originated from Naples, that’s considered the birthplace of modern pizza. According to the food historian Giuseppe Nocca that conducted the study, the word first appeared in a text from the small town of Gaeta in the year 997 AD. Gaeta is located north of Naples, between Naples and Rome.
This is the oldest written evidence of the word pizza ever found. Making pizza one of the oldest written Italian words dicovered.
The text was found at a mill near the Garigliano river, which divides the two regions Lazio from Campania. This is interesting because it means pizza could have originated further north, in the Lazio region, rather than Campania, where Naples is located.
The documents describe how the son of a feudal lord Duke Marino II, every Christmas day, and every Easter, had to pay the bishop of Gaeta 12 pizzas.
What Does the Name Pizza Mean?
There are two leading theories about the origin or meaning of the word. Either that it came with the greeks to southern Italy, or that it comes from the Lombardic language.
Originating From Greek
Researchers believe that the pizza originated from the Mediterranean area introduced to Southern Italy around 600 BC by the Greeks living in the area. The word pizza could, therefore, come from the Greek word pitta. Where pitta is a thin, round, flatbread baked in a hot wood-fired oven. The Italians started adding tomato and other toppings to these flatbreads, that evolved into the modern dish, as we know it today.
From Lombardic
Another theory is that the name origuinate from Lombardic word pizzo, also spelled bizzo, that means mouthful or, bite, in English.
How to Pronounce the Word Pizza
A question I hear all the time is why there is a “t” sound in the word pizza. There no “t” in pizza, right?
“Pizza” as we know the word today is actually an Italian word. However, there’s no “t” sound in the Italian pronunciation either. In Italian, they pronounce it: /ˈpid.dza/. While in English, however, you usually hear the word pronounced more like /ˈpit.tsa/, with a “t” sound. In other words, different from Italian. Why is that?
The English pronunciation is actually closer to the Neapolitan way of pronouncing the word. But if you hear someone from Naples, you’ll notice that they pronounced the”zz” sound more like ” /tts/”. So, when you use the word “pizza” in your everyday English you’re actually using speaking Neopolitan dialect.
If you want to know more about the history of pizza, check outthe ultimate guide to Neapolitan pizza.
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