pastry

Where does the word "pastry" come from? It comes from Late Latin pasta, passing through Old French before entering English (1530s).

Pastry’s story begins in Late Latin: pasta meant “dough, paste.” From Greek 'pastē', a barley porridge sprinkled with salt. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as paste. The dough bakers worked with; the same word later gave 'pâté' and 'pâtisserie'. It reached English by 1530s as pastry. Formed in English from 'paste' plus -ry, on the model of 'pantry'. Today, pastry means a dough of flour, fat and water; baked goods made from it.

1. Stage 1 · Late Latin · ancient pasta "dough, paste", from Greek 'pastē', a barley porridge sprinkled with salt.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval paste "dough", the dough bakers worked with; the same word later gave 'pâté' and 'pâtisserie'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1530s pastry "baked goods made of dough", formed in English from 'paste' plus -ry, on the model of 'pantry'.