ភីហ្សា
phiizaa
ភីហ្សា (phiizaa) is the Khmer word for pizza.
The word is used to refer to the Italian dish.
Meaning: Italian dish (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The spelling ភីហ្សា uses the consonant ភ (ph), the vowel ី (ee) and the consonant ស (s) with a subscript ា (aa) to approximate the English pronunciation.
How do you pronounce it?
phiizaa
Did you know?
- Because the Khmer script has no native 'z' sound, the ស (s) in ភីហ្សា is used to approximate it, making the word sound slightly more like 'pisa' to a native speaker.
- In many Khmer social settings, the concept of sharing a single 'pizza' is still a relatively modern Westernized dining habit compared to traditional communal rice-based meals.
- The word 'pizza' entered the Khmer vocabulary almost exclusively through the globalization of fast-food chains rather than through any historical culinary exchange.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំចង់ញ៉ាំភីហ្សា។khnom chong nham phi-sa.I want to eat pizza.
- តើភីហ្សានេះមានតម្លៃប៉ុន្មាន?tae phi-sa nis mean dom-lay pon-man?How much is this pizza?
- តើអ្នកចូលចិត្តភីហ្សាមែនទេ?tae neak chol chet phi-sa men te?Do you like pizza?
Example conversation
Two friends are deciding what to eat for lunch.
- រតនៈ Ratanakតើអ្នកចង់ញ៉ាំអ្វីសម្រាប់អាហារថ្ងៃត្រង់?tae neak chong nham avei som-rab a-ha thngay trang?What do you want to eat for lunch?
- ចិន្តា Chindaតើពួកយើងអាចកម្មង់ភីហ្សាបានទេ?tae puok yerng arch kom-mong phi-sa ban te?Can we order pizza?
- រតនៈ Ratanakបាន! ខ្ញុំក៏ចង់ញ៉ាំភីហ្សាដែរ។ban! khnom kor chong nham phi-sa dae.Sure! I want to eat pizza too.
- ចិន្តា Chindaល្អណាស់! ខ្ញុំនឹងរកហាងមួយ។lor nas! khnom neng rork hang muoy.Great! I will look for a shop.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pizza” translations and entries ភីហ្សា, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
