Parmesan

noun

Par·​me·​san ˈpär-mə-ˌzän 

-ˌzhän,

-zən,

-ˌzan 

: a very hard dry sharply flavored cheese that is sold grated or in wedges

sprinkled grated Parmesan over the spaghetti

Examples of Parmesan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

They’re tossed with the savory flavors of fresh sage, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and plenty of butter, contrasting the sweetness of the potato dumplings perfectly. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Oct. 2025

The pizza boxes now boast a simpler design with the brighter colors, and the boxes for Handmade Pan and Parmesan Stuffed Crust pizzas now feature black and metallic gold accents to give the specialty offerings an upscale feel. —Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025

Part of its recent sales success was due to the arrival of the Parmesan Cheese Stuffed Pizza after a 30-year absence from the menu. —Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025

Parmesan Cheese Parmesan is a hard, salty cheese that's a great source of calcium. —Jillian Kubala, Health, 7 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for Parmesan cheese; Parmesan "of the city of Parma," borrowed from Middle French parmisan, probably borrowed from a western Upper Italian variant of Tuscan parmigiano, from Parma "Parma" + -igiano, adjective suffix of appurtenance, from Vulgar Latin *-ēs- (going back to Latin -ensis, adjective suffix of place) + Latin -iānus -ian entry 2

Note: The expected Tuscan (and standard Italian) outcome of -igiano would be -iciano; cf. standard Italian bacio "kiss" (from Latin bāsium), usually pronounced [ˈba šo], but Ligurian [ˈba žu], Trentino (northwest Italy) [ˈba žo] (see Gerhard Rohlfs, Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti: Sintassi e formazione delle parole, Turin, 1969, p. 392). The form -igiano with a voiced consonant hence presumably reflects Upper Italian influence. For instances of the same suffix as borrowed into French see courtesan, partisan entry 1. The common American English pronunciation of Parmesan with \zh\ may show dialectal Italian influence.

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Parmesan

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon

Kids Definition

Parmesan

noun

Par·​me·​san ˈpär-mə-ˌzän  -ˌzhän 

-zən,

-ˌzan

: a very hard dry sharply flavored cheese that is sold grated or in wedges