*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of paste

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Midd

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To stick with paste; to cause to adhere by or as if by paste. · To insert a piece of media (e.g. text, picture, audio, video) previously copied or cut from somewhere else.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Middle English paste English paste From Middle English paste, from Old French paste (modern pâte), from Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá). Doublet of pasta. The verb is from the noun. Middle English had pasten (“to make a paste of; bake in a pastry”), also from the noun; compare Latin pistō and Medieval Latin pastillātus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:paste<id:mixture>",
        "id": "moist mixture",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek πάσσω (pássō)\nProto-Indo-European *-tós\nProto-Hellenic *-tós\nAncient Greek -τός (-tós)\nAncient Greek παστός (pastós)\nAncient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.\nLate Latin pasta\nOld French pastebor.\nMiddle English paste\nEnglish paste\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"dough\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"food\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"porridge\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"salted\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"sprinkle\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"πάσσω\", \"gloss\" : \"to sprinkle\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"id\" : \"verbal adjectives\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"verbal adjectives\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tós\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*-tós\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-τός\", \"lang\" : \"grc\", \"pos\" : \"adjectival suffix\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"παστός\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"παστά\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"pasta\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"moist mixture\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"paste\" id=\"English:_moist_mixture\">"
    },
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "moist mixture"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
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      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "paste"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English paste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "paste"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French paste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "pasta"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin pasta"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "παστά"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pasta"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of pasta"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "pistō"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin pistō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la-med",
        "2": "pastillātus"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin pastillātus"
    },
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        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:paste<id:mixture>",
        "id": "moist mixture",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek πάσσω (pássō)\nProto-Indo-European *-tós\nProto-Hellenic *-tós\nAncient Greek -τός (-tós)\nAncient Greek παστός (pastós)\nAncient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.\nLate Latin pasta\nOld French pastebor.\nMiddle English paste\nEnglish paste"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
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      "πάσσω",
      "πάσσω#Ancient_Greek:_sprinkle"
    ],
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      "*-tós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-tós#Proto-Indo-European:_verbal_adjectives"
    ],
    [
      "*-tós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/-tós"
    ],
    [
      "-τός",
      "-τός#Ancient_Greek:_verbal_adjectives"
    ],
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      "παστός",
      "παστός#Ancient_Greek:_salted"
    ],
    [
      "παστά",
      "παστά#Ancient_Greek:_porridge"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#Latin:_food"
    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Old_French:_dough"
    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Middle_English:_mixture"
    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "pâte",
      "pâte#French"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "παστά",
      "παστά#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#English"
    ],
    [
      "pasten",
      "pasten#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "pistō",
      "pisto#Latin"
    ],
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      "pastillātus",
      "pastillatus#Latin"
    ]
  ],
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  "descendants": [],
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      "pos": "verb",
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        "To stick with paste; to cause to adhere by or as if by paste.",
        "To insert a piece of media (e.g. text, picture, audio, video) previously copied or cut from somewhere else."
      ],
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        "transitive"
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Source etymology 1 · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
noun

One of flour, fat, or similar ingredients used in making pastry. · Pastry. · One of pounded foods, such as fish paste, liver paste, or tomato paste. · One used as an adhesive, especially for putting up wallpapers, etc.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Middle English paste English paste From Middle English paste, from Old French paste (modern pâte), from Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá). Doublet of pasta. The verb is from the noun. Middle English had pasten (“to make a paste of; bake in a pastry”), also from the noun; compare Latin pistō and Medieval Latin pastillātus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:paste<id:mixture>",
        "id": "moist mixture",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nAncient Greek πάσσω (pássō)\nProto-Indo-European *-tós\nProto-Hellenic *-tós\nAncient Greek -τός (-tós)\nAncient Greek παστός (pastós)\nAncient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.\nLate Latin pasta\nOld French pastebor.\nMiddle English paste\nEnglish paste\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"dough\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"food\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"porridge\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"salted\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"sprinkle\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"πάσσω\", \"gloss\" : \"to sprinkle\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"id\" : \"verbal adjectives\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"verbal adjectives\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tós\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*-tós\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-τός\", \"lang\" : \"grc\", \"pos\" : \"adjectival suffix\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"παστός\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"παστά\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"pasta\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"paste\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"moist mixture\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"paste\" id=\"English:_moist_mixture\">"
    },
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "moist mixture"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "paste"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English paste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "paste"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French paste"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "pasta"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin pasta"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "παστά"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pasta"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of pasta"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "pistō"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin pistō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la-med",
        "2": "pastillātus"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin pastillātus"
    },
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      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:paste<id:mixture>",
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        "tree": "1"
      },
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    }
  ],
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    [
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-tós#Proto-Indo-European:_verbal_adjectives"
    ],
    [
      "*-tós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/-tós"
    ],
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      "-τός",
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    ],
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      "παστός",
      "παστός#Ancient_Greek:_salted"
    ],
    [
      "παστά",
      "παστά#Ancient_Greek:_porridge"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#Latin:_food"
    ],
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      "paste",
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    ],
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      "paste",
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    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "paste",
      "paste#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "pâte",
      "pâte#French"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#Latin"
    ],
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      "παστά",
      "παστά#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "pasta",
      "pasta#English"
    ],
    [
      "pasten",
      "pasten#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "pistō",
      "pisto#Latin"
    ],
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      "pastillātus",
      "pastillatus#Latin"
    ]
  ],
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      "lang": "Cebuano",
      "lang_code": "ceb",
      "word": "pasta",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
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      "lang": "Malay",
      "lang_code": "ms",
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        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To strike or beat someone or something. · To defeat decisively or by a large margin.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Probably an alteration of baste (“beat”) influenced by some sense of the noun.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    [
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    ],
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      "the noun",
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

plural of pasta

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Unadapted borrowing from Italian paste (“pastas”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Unadapted borrowing mentionpasteit
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "1": "en",
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    },
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      "name": "ubor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "it",
        "3": "paste",
        "4": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from Italian paste (“pastas”)"
    }
  ],
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    [
      "paste",
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    ]
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
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        "plural of pasta"
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for paste →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
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Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGFzdGU