noun
puto
POO-toh
noun
1
A small steamed rice cake, often slightly sweet, popular in Filipino cuisine and usually eaten as a snack or side dish.
"She brought a tray of puto to the family gathering."
"Puto is often served alongside dinuguan or other savory dishes to balance the flavors."
How to Use Puto
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA soft, steamed rice cake — a well-known Filipino snack food, usually round and slightly sweet.
Memory tip
It is a food name, not related to any English word it might resemble — treat it as a loanword from Tagalog.
Trace the full origin ↓
Common pairings
a tray of puto
steamed puto
puto with cheese
Word Forms
putos plural, puto plural
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Etymology
Borrowed from Tagalog puto, itself from Malay putu, which traces back to a Tamil word for a steamed rice dish — a chain of borrowing that followed centuries of trade across South and Southeast Asia.