lasagna meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

lasagna

noun

UK /ləˈzɑː.njə/ · US /ləˈzæn.jə/

Etymology From Italian lasagna (and its plural lasagne), possibly from Vulgar Latin *lasania, from Latin lasanum (“cooking pot”), from Ancient Greek λάσανον (lásanon, “trivet or stand for a pot”). Others argue the Italian lasagna originally derived from the Arabic لَوْزِينَج (lawzīnaj, “almond cake”).

A flat sheet of pasta.

An Italian baked dish comprising layers of such pasta with various ingredients (usually a meat ragù (chiefly Bolognese), a fish ragù or a vegetarian/vegetable ragù with bechamel sauce).

I’m going to fix you a cup of coffee and a plate of lasagna.2013, James Lee Burke, Light of the World, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 299:

Broadly A combination or layering of things.

Kristofer'd gotten it through his head shortly after their arrival to swim naked in the lake, such as it was, and his skin blemished into a lasagna of red hives, white welts, and disarming yellowish spots.1996, Lance Olsen, Time Famine: A Novel:
Unfortunately, typical mattresses are often a lasagna of nonbiodegradable synthetics, pesticides, and potentially carcinogenic toxins.2008, Body & Soul:

4 more examples

It's sort of a lasagna of ideas about time and dreams.2011, Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die for, Open Court Publishing, →ISBN, page 280:
“Everything about us is just one layer of lies after another. We're a lasagna of lies. This is a terrible basis for a relationship.”2013, Molly Harper, How to Run with a Naked Werewolf, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
CHOCOLATE LASAGNA / Who says lasagna is only a main dish? Serve this easy, no-bake lasagna for dessert. / Ingredients / 2 3.9-ounce packages (110 g) instant chocolate pudding mix / 2 cups (473 mL) milk / 8 ounces (227g) whipped topping / 16 graham crackers, chocolate or plan / 1 1/2 cups (75g) mini marshmallows / chocolate syrup2020, Rebecca E. Hirsch, Garfield's Guide to Lasagna: Cooking Nature's Perfect Food, Lerner Publications, →ISBN, page 20:
When you have lifted a layered lasagne of toilet paper and semen from the floor of a submarine yard in Barrow-in-Furness, there’s not much left in the world that can scare you.2025 September 23, Tom Lamont, “The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job”, in The Guardian:

Derived terms: lasagna code, lasagna lizard, Mexican lasagna, nutellasagna