Empanada

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɛmpəˈnɑːdə/

Definitions

1. A type of pastry that is typically folded over and filled with a variety of ingredients including meats, vegetables, or cheeses before being baked or fried
2. A culinary creation made from dough that can be stuffed with different fillings, such as meat, cheese, or vegetables, and then cooked until golden
3. A savory or sweet pastry made of dough enclosing various fillings like meats, cheeses, or vegetables, which is often baked or fried for consumption

Etymology: The Spanish "empanada" is a past participle, and its literal sense is "wrapped in bread." It comes from "empanar," which means to wrap something in bread, with the prefix "en-" ("in") joined to "pan" ("bread"). The pastry is named for what it does: a filling is enclosed in dough, so the dough is literally a bread wrapper around the filling. English borrowed the word directly from Spanish, so it carries its original sense of enclosing and wrapping rather than any English-based meaning. The filling-in-dough idea that the name describes is the same idea behind many pastries, but the Spanish verb ties the name specifically to bread-based wrapping.

Synonyms: pastry, turnover, pasty, dumpling, snack