Standard Lemma guide

matzo

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈmætsə/
  • UK: /ˈmætsəʊ/
  • UK: /ˌmɑːˈtsɑː/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈmɑtsə/
  • US: /ˈmɑtsoʊ/
  • US: /ˌmɑˈtsɑ/
  • rhymes with (UK) -ætsə
  • rhymes with -ɑː

1

noun

Meaning 1

Thin, unleavened bread in Jewish cuisine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Matzo is eaten by Jews on Passover.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A piece of the above bread.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

brittle flat bread eaten at Passover

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: matzoh, matzah, unleavened bread

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bread, breadstuff, staff of life

History

Etymology

When stressed on the first syllable, from Yiddish מצה (matse), from Hebrew מַצָּה (matsá); pronunciations stressed on the second syllable are borrowed directly from Hebrew.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: маца́ (macá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Bulgarian: маца́ (macá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Catalan: matsà — thin, unleavened bread
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無酵餅 /无酵饼 (wújiàobǐng) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Dutch: matze — thin, unleavened bread
  • Dutch: matse — thin, unleavened bread
  • Esperanto: maco — thin, unleavened bread
  • Finnish: matsa — thin, unleavened bread
  • French: matza — thin, unleavened bread
  • German: Matze — thin, unleavened bread
  • German: Mazze — thin, unleavened bread
  • German: Matzen — thin, unleavened bread
  • German: Mazzen — thin, unleavened bread
  • Hebrew: מַצָּה (matsá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Hungarian: pászka — thin, unleavened bread
  • Hungarian: macesz — thin, unleavened bread
  • Japanese: マッツァー (mattsā) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Ladino: מצה (masa or matsa) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Ladino: masa — thin, unleavened bread
  • Ladino: matsa — thin, unleavened bread
  • Persian: مصا (masâ) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Polish: maca — thin, unleavened bread
  • Polish: przaśnik — thin, unleavened bread
  • Portuguese: matzá — thin, unleavened bread
  • Russian: маца́ (macá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Russian: мацца́ (maccá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Spanish: matzá — thin, unleavened bread
  • Turkish: matsa — thin, unleavened bread
  • Ukrainian: маца́ (macá) — thin, unleavened bread
  • Yiddish: מצה (matse) — thin, unleavened bread