paste

C2+ Topic:Food & Drink

US /peɪst/ UK /peɪst/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like pest /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

noun
a soft, moist, sticky mixture used for adhering or as food

She spread a thin layer of paste on the wallpaper.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a soft, moist, sticky... adhesive glue gummucilagespread mixture

Word family

Derived forms pastypasting

Related forms pastry pasta

Simplified etymology

Paste came into Middle English through Latin from Greek pastai ‘barley porridge’, related to pastos ‘to sprinkle or salt’. Its earliest English sense was ‘pastry’; the meaning ‘glue’ arose later in the Middle Ages from the use of flour and water as an adhesive.

Etymology

From Old French paste 'dough, paste', from Late Latin pasta 'dough, pastry cake', from Greek pasta 'barley porridge', from pastos 'sprinkled, salted', from passein 'to sprinkle'.

paste Old French pasta la-lat pastá Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# paste

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /peɪst/
**IPA (UK):** /peɪst/

## Meanings
1. a soft, moist, sticky mixture used for adhering or as food

## Examples
- She spread a thin layer of paste on the wallpaper.

## Synonyms
- adhesive
- glue
- gum
- mucilage
- spread
- mixture

## Derived Forms
- pasty
- pasting

## Related Forms
- pastry
- pasta

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: paste
- Root: pasta
- Root: pastá

## Etymology
From Old French paste 'dough, paste', from Late Latin pasta 'dough, pastry cake', from Greek pasta 'barley porridge', from pastos 'sprinkled, salted', from passein 'to sprinkle'.

## AI Etymology
Paste comes from Old French paste 'dough, paste', from Late Latin pasta 'dough, pastry cake', from Greek pasta 'barley porridge', from pastos 'sprinkled, salted', from passein 'to sprinkle'. The etymological trail includes Old French paste, Latin pasta, and Ancient Greek pastá. As a noun, paste means a soft, moist, sticky mixture used for adhering or as food. The same family is visible in derived forms such as pasty and pasting and related forms such as pastry and pasta.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

markdown