Pesto

//ˈpɛstoʊ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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). uncountable, usually

    "Inside the house, Paul is in the kitchen bent over a bowl of pesto: thick shiny basil leaves, machete-crushed garlic cloves, pine nuts, onions roasted till their gold edges blacken, and the bright scent of lemon zest."

  2. 2
    a sauce typically served with pasta; contains crushed basil leaves and garlic and pine nuts and Parmesan cheese in olive oil wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
persilladepistou

Example

More examples

"Pesto is God's gift to the world."

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.

Related phrases

sauce especially for pasta originating from genoa region in italy made from basil garlic pine nuts olive oil and cheese usually pecorino

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.