delicatessen

plural noun del·i·ca·tes·sen \ ˌde-li-kə-ˈte-sᵊn \

Updated on: 2 Apr 2018

Definition of delicatessen

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

Recent Examples of delicatessen from the Web

On Friday, Sergei Skripal went to a small delicatessen, exchanged pleasantries with the owner and, just like every other week, bought Eastern European specialties that reminded him of home.

— wiktor szary, WSJ, "The Quiet English Life of Sergei Skripal, Poisoned Former Russian Spy," 11 Mar. 2018
There's that famous delicatessen scene in When Harry Met Sally when Ryan gets really excited about ... dinner.

— Newsweek, "Amazing Photos of Bioluminescent Phytoplankton," 14 Mar. 2018
At the delicatessen, Ms. Paliszewska said Mr. Skripal seemed like any other customer, calm and polite.

— wiktor szary, WSJ, "The Quiet English Life of Sergei Skripal, Poisoned Former Russian Spy," 11 Mar. 2018
Over an evening glass of wine, regulars at the Da Luca delicatessen on Rome’s fashionable Via Urbana are arguing about who will run Europe’s fourth-largest economy after parliamentary elections on Sunday.

— alastair jamieson, NBC News, "Italy’s Berlusconi could play kingmaker after wild election campaign," 2 Mar. 2018
His Wife of 50 Years Died of Cancer Kraft met Myra Hiatt at a delicatessen in Boston back in 1962.

— jason duaine hahn, PEOPLE.com, "Who Is Robert Kraft? Everything to Know About the New England Patriots Owner," 1 Mar. 2018
Market Hall Foods is a gourmet delicatessen, something like a non-chain version of Dean & DeLuca.

— madeleine luckel, Vogue, "Why the Berkeley Food Tour Is My Favorite Holiday Tradition," 17 Dec. 2017
The bride’s father is a general manager of a delicatessen and grocery store at a resort in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit.

— vincent m. mallozzi, New York Times, "A Food Writer Gives His Bride ‘Four Stars’," 9 Dec. 2017
As well as a new lifestyle, home and garden shop, there’s also a delicatessen, wine cellar and florist, all curated by the Boglione family who took over the original nurseries at the turn of the millennium.

— charlotte owen, A-LIST, "Petersham Nurseries Covent Garden," 4 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delicatessen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of delicatessen

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1885

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year