Meanings
nounpaella (countable and uncountable, plural paellas)
plural paellas
- countableuncountableA savory Valencian dish made of rice, cooked in a frying pan with vegetables and meat or shellfish.
I'd like to thank Juan Romero, my dear editor at Litera Libros, for believing in me and trusting me, and for the delicious paellas we shared.
2023, translated in 2025, Berta Páramo and translated by Marc Correa Haro, Lice: How to Survive on Humans, page 203
Origin
- Latinpatella“plate, small pan”
- Old Frenchpaelle
- Catalanpaella“pot; pan”
- Englishpaella
Borrowed from Catalan paella (“pot; pan”), from Old French paelle, from Latin patella (“plate, small pan”). Doublet of patella and possibly pail.
More words from Catalan, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Arabic البَيَالَّة
- البَيَالَّة (al-bayālla)savory Valencian dish
Catalan paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Chinese Cantonese 西班牙海鮮飯 /西班牙海鲜饭
- 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, 西班牙海鮮燉飯 /西班牙海鲜炖饭
- 西班牙大鍋飯 /西班牙大锅饭 (Xībānyá dàguōfàn)savory Valencian dish
- 西班牙海鮮燉飯 /西班牙海鲜炖饭 (Xībānyá hǎixiāndùnfàn)savory Valencian dish
Dutch paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Finnish paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
French paella, paélia
- paellasavory Valencian dish
- paéliasavory Valencian dish
German Paella
- Paellasavory Valencian dish
Indonesian paela
- paelasavory Valencian dish
Italian paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Japanese パエリア
- パエリア (paeria)savory Valencian dish
Korean 파에야
- 파에야 (pa'eya)savory Valencian dish
Polish paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Portuguese paelha, paeja
- paelhasavory Valencian dish
- paejasavory Valencian dish
Russian паэ́лья
- паэ́лья (paélʹja)savory Valencian dish
Spanish paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Swedish paella
- paellasavory Valencian dish
Welsh paëla
- paëlasavory Valencian dish
Yiddish פּאַעליאַ
- פּאַעליאַ (paelya)savory Valencian dish
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paella
VenezuelaEritreaumbrellaBellaplayaIsaiahEllasalmonellaGaiaHoseamozzarellafellahellarhearubellaLeiaMaiaGabriellanovellaCoachellaFreyaJudeavaricellashigella
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
paella. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paella
MLA
“paella.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paella. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paella,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paella.
Source: paella on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.