What does patty mean?
Patty usually denotes a small, flat, round portion of food, most often minced meat or a mixture of vegetables and grains. A beef patty can be grilled, fried, or baked and may be served in a bun, while vegetable patties provide a meat-free alternative; the patty itself is the filling rather than the complete sandwich. In American English, patty also has a narrower baking sense in compounds such as pattycake, a small, tender cake cooked in a pan. The word is neutral and practical, though it is especially associated with everyday American food, fast meals, and the language of home cooking and processed foods. It is also useful when precision matters: “hamburger” normally names the sandwich, whereas “patty” identifies the flattened portion placed inside it. Although borrowed through French culinary vocabulary, patty now has a clearly established English meaning distinct from related words such as pâté, which denotes a spreadable or sliceable savory paste.
nounA small, flat, usually round portion of food, especially of minced meat or vegetables, that may be cooked and served in a bun. In American usage, it can also mean a small flat cake, as in pattycake.
- A small, flat, usually round portion of minced meat, vegetables, or a similar mixture, intended to be cooked or served as part of a meal.
- A small, flat, tender cake, especially in the American compound pattycake.
"She grilled the vegetable patty and served it in a whole-wheat bun."
"She pressed the seasoned mixture into a patty and grilled it."
"Her grandmother made patty cakes for breakfast."
The standard plural of patty is patties, with the second consonant doubled before the suffix.
"She placed two grilled patties on the plate."
A patty is the burger's filling, not the sandwich itself—and its French ancestry once pointed toward a pie.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of patty
English borrowed patty from French pâté, a word associated with pie and meat preparations. The French term is related to Middle French paste, meaning dough or pastry, and ultimately to Latin pasta, meaning paste or dough. That ancestry also connects the word with cognates such as paste, pastry, and pasta, although English patty developed its own specialized sense of a small flattened cake or disk.
How patty is actually used
The word is neutral to informal and is especially common in American food contexts. The cake sense is particularly associated with Pennsylvania and nearby regional traditions.
Easily confused with patty
A patty is a distinct flattened portion of food, whereas pâté is a cooked savory paste that is spreadable or served in slices.