Plain and simple, pâté is a mixture of seasoned ground meat, seafood, poultry or vegetables cooked down into a spreadable texture. Pâté is pronounced pah-tay which is simply French for 'paste'.

The former gives the original meaning as a "culinary preparation consisting of minced meat or fish surrounded by dough and baked in the oven"; the OED's definition is "a pie or pastry usually filled with finely minced meat, fish, vegetables, etc." The French words pâte (pastry) and pâté are both derived from the Latin ...

noun. pasta [noun] a dough used in Italian cooking for making spaghetti, macaroni etc.

Usually made in a terrine (a porcelain dish), pâté may also be referred to as terrine, used as an abbreviation of pâté en terrine. Though some consider terrine to imply a coarser, heartier pâté, the two terms are used interchangeably today.