παστά

Forms

παστά (pastá) n pl (genitive παστῶν); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter plural of παστός (pastós) “sprinkled with salt, salted”, used as a noun.^[1][2][3] Παστός is the verbal adjective of πάσσω (pássō) “to sprinkle”, whose further origin Beekes considers uncertain; he mentions a possible link with Latin quatiō (“to shake”).^[2][4] Etymonline suggests the dish was originally “a salted mess of food”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 2nd-century AD lexicographer Aelius Dionysius, for a kind of barley porridge.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesychius describes it as a mixture of cheese and meal, and Photius as a pulse soup mixed with barley meal.^[2][7][8] Babiniotis gives a Hellenistic πάστη for a broth or sauce thickened with flour, beside τὰ παστά for a cream of coarsely ground grain.^[9]

The word was borrowed as Latin pasta “dough, paste” in Late Latin, and passed from there into Italian.^[10][9] Modern Greek has it back from Italian as πάστα (pásta), a cake, pasta or a paste.^[10] Kriaras records the Italian loan in medieval vernacular Greek for a dish wrapped in dough.^[11] English pasta, from Italian, goes back to the same source.^[5]

Timeline

• 2nd century AD – Aelius Dionysius records it as a kind of barley porridge.^[2][6]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius explains it as a mixture of cheese and meal.^[2][6]
• 9th century AD – Photius glosses it as pulse soup mixed with barley meal.^[7][6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has the Italian loan πάστα (pásta) for a dish in pastry.^[11]
• 1874 – English first records pasta, from Italian.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kind of barley porridge.^[2][1]
2. A dish of cheese mixed with meal, according to Hesychius.^[2]
3. A pulse soup mixed with barley meal, according to Photius.^[7][8]

Related words

• παστός (pastós)
• πάσσω (pássō)
• Latin pasta
• English pasta

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
4. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
8. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr