Standard Lemma guide

pesto

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.

  • US: /ˈpɛstoʊ/
  • UK: /ˈpɛstəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛstəʊ

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sauce, especially for pasta, originating from the Genoa region in Italy, made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and cheese (usually pecorino).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a sauce typically served with pasta; contains crushed basil leaves and garlic and pine nuts and Parmesan cheese in olive oil

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sauce

History

Etymology

Appears 1850 in Cottage economy, attributed to William Cobbett (but not found in any editions published during his life). From Italian pesto, from Latin pistus (“crushed, pounded”), from Latin pīnsō (“to pound, beat, crush”). Cognate to pestle.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بِيسْتُو (bīstū) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Arabic: بِسْتُو (bistū) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Arabic: بستو (bistu, pistu) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Belarusian: пе́ста (pjésta) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Bulgarian: пе́сто (pésto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Chinese Mandarin: 香蒜沙司 (xiāngsuàn shāsī) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Chinese Mandarin: 香蒜醬 /香蒜酱 (xiāngsuànjiàng) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Czech: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Danish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Dutch: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Finnish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Finnish: pestokastike — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • French: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • German: Pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Greek: πέστο (pésto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Hebrew: פֶּסְטוֹ (pɛsṭō) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Hungarian: bazsalikomszósz — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Hungarian: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Icelandic: pestó — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Italian: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Japanese: ペスト・ジェノヴェーゼ (pesuto jenovēze) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Japanese: ペスト (pesuto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Korean: 페스토 (peseuto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Ligurian: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Māori: peheto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Neapolitan: pisto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Persian: پستو — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Polish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Russian: пе́сто (pésto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Serbo-Croatian: пе̏сто — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Serbo-Croatian: pȅsto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Spanish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Swedish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Turkish: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Ukrainian: пе́сто (pésto) — an Italian sauce especially for pasta
  • Welsh: pesto — an Italian sauce especially for pasta