Standard Lemma guide

paella

noun · 2 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: /paɪˈ(j)ɛl(j)ə/
  • UK: /pɑːˈɛ.(l)(j)ə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /pɑːˈeɪ.(j)ə/
  • US: /paɪˈ(j)eɪ.(j)ə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛlə
  • rhymes with -eɪə

1

noun

Meaning 1

A savory Valencian dish made of rice, cooked in a frying pan with vegetables and meat or shellfish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

saffron-flavored dish made of rice with shellfish and chicken

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dish

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Catalan paella (“pot; pan”), from Old French paelle, from Latin patella (“plate, small pan”). Doublet of patella and possibly pail.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Arabic: البَيَالَّة (al-bayālla) — savory Valencian dish
  • Asturian: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Catalan: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Chinese Cantonese: 西班牙海鮮飯 /西班牙海鲜饭 (sai1 baan1 ngaa4 hoi2 sin1 faan6) — savory Valencian dish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 西班牙大鍋飯 /西班牙大锅饭 (Xībānyá dàguōfàn) — savory Valencian dish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 西班牙海鮮燉飯 /西班牙海鲜炖饭 (Xībānyá hǎixiāndùnfàn) — savory Valencian dish
  • Dutch: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Finnish: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • French: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • French: paélia — savory Valencian dish
  • Galician: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • German: Paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Indonesian: paela — savory Valencian dish
  • Italian: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Japanese: パエリア (paeria) — savory Valencian dish
  • Korean: 파에야 (pa'eya) — savory Valencian dish
  • Occitan: paèlha — savory Valencian dish
  • Polish: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Portuguese: paelha — savory Valencian dish
  • Portuguese: paeja — savory Valencian dish
  • Russian: паэ́лья (paélʹja) — savory Valencian dish
  • Spanish: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Swedish: paella — savory Valencian dish
  • Welsh: paëla — savory Valencian dish
  • Yiddish: פּאַעליאַ (paelya) — savory Valencian dish