Etymology

pesto

P3E1S1T1O1

Today it means: A sauce, especially for pasta, originating from the Genoa region in Italy, made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and cheese (usually pecorino). Full definition →

Italian pesto ← Latin pistus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompīnsō“to pound, beat, crush”
  2. Latin · derived frompistus“crushed, pounded”
  3. Italian · borrowed frompesto
  4. English todaypesto

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.