According to Merriam-Webster, pizza is traditionally a meal consisting of flattened bread dough covered with a mixture of tomatoes, mozzarella, and additional toppings. If you are craving pizzas, call Double Pizza food delivery right away.

Everyone knows what pizza is, but do you know why it is named pizza? The earliest use of the word pizza was established in AD 997 in Gaeta and afterward in various areas of Central and Southern Italy. According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the phrase was first used in a document written in Gaeta. The son of a feudal lord offers pizza to a local bishop as an annual tribute in the agreement. The town of Gaeta is located northwest of Naples, where pizza is thought to have originated in the 16th century.

The “Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana” explains that pizza derives from the dialectal pinza, which originates from the Latin pinsere, which means to stamp or pound. Other etymologists believe it is derived from the Lombardic word pizzo or bizzo, which means “mouthful,” and is linked to the English word bite.

The origins of other related terms 

You may hear terminology like cheese, pepperoni, and crust when ordering pizza. Each of these terms has a history.

The term cheese gets its name from the Latin word caseus, which also gives rise to the word casein. The term cheese is derived from the Middle English word cheese, which was used until the late 15th century. Particularly, mozzarella comes from mozza, which means to cut, and is based on how the cheese is worked. The name “mozzarella” originally appeared in a cookbook published in 1570.

Pepperoni is derived from the term peperoni, the plural of peperone, the Italian word for bell pepper. The term pepperoni was first used to describe a sausage in 1919.

Even the term “crust” has a backstory. Crouste was a term used in French in the early 14th century to describe the hard outer layer of bread. Crouste is said to have originated from the Latin crusta, which refers to a rind, shell, or bark.

Who made the first pizza? 

Most historians believe that the Italians invented modern-day pizza. On the other hand, baked bread with additional toppings may be found in the forebears of many different cuisines.

Most people are familiar with Italian pizza, particularly pizza from Naples. However, pissaladiere in Provence, coca in Catalonia, and lahmacun in the Middle East are similar to pizza.