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mar·ghe·ri·ta

(mär′gə-rētə)

adj.

Made with tomato sauce, basil, and fresh mozzarella: pizza margherita.

[After Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926), queen of Italy (1878-1900), who is said to have preferred a pizza of this style during her visit to Naples in 1889, for which occasion the style was perhaps invented (the green basil, white mozzarella, and red tomato sauce traditionally being considered to represent the colors of the Italian flag).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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