“一种意大利起源的咸味菜肴，由面团为基础，涂抹橄榄、番茄、奶酪、凤尾鱼等多种配料，然后在非常热的烤箱中烘烤”[OED, 1989]，1845年，来自意大利语 pizza，最初意为“蛋糕，塔，派”，其名称来源不确定。
1907年 "Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana" 报道称，它可能源自方言 pinza “夹具”（来自拉丁语 pinsere “捣碎，压印”），这可能指的是意大利某些地区制作的折叠式比萨（见下文引用）。
The pizza is a sort of bun [original: un talmouse comme on en fait à St-Denis, lit. "a talmouse like one gets in St-Denis."]; it is round, and made of the same dough as bread. It is of different sizes according to the price. […] At first sight the pizza appears to be a simple dish, upon examination it proves to be compound. The pizza is prepared with bacon, with lard, with cheese, with tomatas, with fish. ["Sketches of Naples" by Alexandre Dumas, translated by A. Roland for Arthur's Magazine, Aug. 1845.]
比萨是一种面包 [原文：un talmouse comme on en fait à St-Denis，字面意思是“在圣丹尼斯制作的那种塔”。]；它是圆形的，使用与面包相同的面团。根据价格的不同，大小也有所不同。 […] 初看比萨似乎是一道简单的菜肴，但经过检查，它证明是复杂的。比萨配有培根、猪油、奶酪、番茄和鱼。[亚历山大·杜马的《那不勒斯素描》，由 A. Roland 为 Arthur's Magazine 翻译，1845年8月。]
A pizza is manufactured, as far as I can ascertain, by garnishing a slab of reinforced asphalt paving with mucilage, whale-blubber and the skeletons of small fishes, baking same to the consistency of a rubber heel, and serving piping-hot with a dressing of molten lava. ["Simon Stylites," in The Bergen Evening Record, May 15, 1931]
据我所知，比萨是通过用粘合剂、鲸脂和小鱼的骨骼装饰一块加固的沥青铺路石，烘烤至橡胶鞋跟的稠度，然后热乎乎地配上熔岩酱汁上桌的。[“西蒙·斯泰利特斯”，发表于《博根晚报》，1931年5月15日]
