pasta

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian pasta (“paste; pasta, noodles”), from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), neuter plural of παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt”), from Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō, “to sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁t- (“to shake”). Doublet of paste and patty.

noun

1. (uncountable) Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating.
2. (uncountable) A dish or serving of pasta.
3. (countable) A type of pasta.