noun, plural pas·tries.
- a sweet baked food made of dough, especially the shortened paste used for pie crust and the like.
- any item of food of which such dough forms an essential part, as a pie, tart, or napoleon.
noun plural -tries
- a dough of flour, water, shortening, and sometimes other ingredients
- baked foods, such as tarts, made with this dough
- an individual cake or pastry pie
n.mid-15c., “food made with paste,” not originally limited to sweets, from Middle English paste (see paste (n.)) + -ry. Probably influenced by Old French pastaierie “pastry” (Modern French pâtisserie), from pastoier “pastry cook,” from paste (see paste (n.)); also borrowed from Medieval Latin pasteria “pastry,” from Latin pasta. Specific sense of “small confection made of pastry” is from 1906. Pastry-cook attested from 1712.