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

The menu pays homage to a typical delicatessen with sandwiches loaded with chicken schnitzel, smoked turkey, brisket, and more. —Alex Darus, cleveland, 14 Aug. 2023

On the wholesale side, a large part of the business at Star Bakery, Buckfire said, was their bread was sold to many metro Detroit restaurants and delicatessens. —Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 20 June 2023

Before the pandemic, Hasid was planning to open a delicatessen that would be located in an adjacent storefront. —Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 1 July 2020

As part of the format, three South Floridians visit restaurants, gastropubs or delicatessens and dine separately and anonymously as amateur food critics. —Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 13 Apr. 2023

Garner recounts this while sitting in Sadelle’s, the Disneyfied delicatessen on West Broadway where Delvey once hosted a birthday party and skipped out on the bill. —Chloe Malle, Town & Country, 19 Jan. 2022

April There is something to be said for a great delicatessen. —cleveland, 31 Dec. 2022

Ronald Joel Glasser was born on May 31, 1939, in Chicago to Sidney and Ann (Teeman) Glasser, owners of a delicatessen. —Sam Roberts, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2022

The word ‘delicatessen’ is so New York, and so evocative of cinema and a time period. —Kristen Bateman, ELLE, 17 Nov. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

obsolete German (now Delikatessen), plural of Delicatesse delicacy, from French délicatesse, probably from Old Italian delicatezza, from delicato delicate, from Latin delicatus

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

delicatessen

noun plural

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.