delicatessen
plural noun
del·i·ca·tes·sen
ˌde-li-kə-ˈte-sᵊn 
1
: ready-to-eat food products (such as cooked meats and prepared salads)
2
singular, plural delicatessens
[delicatessen (store)]
: a store where delicatessen are sold
Examples of delicatessen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Morse’s Sauerkraut in Waldoboro is a German-style delicatessen and grocery featuring goods from across Europe.
—
Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 11 Sep. 2024
These special warrants are held by a wide range of organizations, from tailors and hat shops to chocolatiers and delicatessens.
—Nicola Butler, Travel + Leisure, 3 Sep. 2024
As of July 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified at least 34 people in 13 different states who became ill from the listeria outbreak linked to some Boar's Head meats sliced at delicatessens.
—Miles Berry, Peoplemag, 31 July 2024
Liebman’s exceptionality, rather, stems from its status as the last Jewish deli in the Bronx, a dubious honor perhaps in a city that is running short on classic delicatessens.
—New York Times, 18 June 2024
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Jacqueline Dole, Travel + Leisure, 11 Sep. 2024
These special warrants are held by a wide range of organizations, from tailors and hat shops to chocolatiers and delicatessens.
—Nicola Butler, Travel + Leisure, 3 Sep. 2024
As of July 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified at least 34 people in 13 different states who became ill from the listeria outbreak linked to some Boar's Head meats sliced at delicatessens.
—Miles Berry, Peoplemag, 31 July 2024
Liebman’s exceptionality, rather, stems from its status as the last Jewish deli in the Bronx, a dubious honor perhaps in a city that is running short on classic delicatessens.
—New York Times, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for delicatessen
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Cite this Entry
“Delicatessen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delicatessen. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
delicatessen
plural noun
del·i·ca·tes·sen
ˌdel-i-kə-ˈtes-ᵊn
1
: ready-to-eat food products (as cooked meats and prepared salads)
2
singular, plural delicatessens
: a store where delicatessen are sold
Etymology
from obsolete German Delicatessen (now spelled Delikatessen) "specially prepared ready-to-eat foods," plural of Delicatesse "delicacy," from French délicatesse (same meaning), derived from Latin delicatus "delicate"
Word Origin
We owe both the word delicatessen and the special food it represents to the German immigrants who came to this country toward the end of the 19th century. But although the food was originally German, the word was not. The Germans borrowed the word from the French. The obsolete German word delicatessen is a plural form of delicatesse and means "delicacies, ready-to-eat foods." This word was borrowed from the French word délicatesse, meaning "delicacy." In English, delicatessen originally meant only the specially-prepared food. In time, the delicatessen store where this food was sold came to be called a delicatessen, and a new meaning for the word was born. Now the word is often shortened to deli.
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