pastrami

P3A1S1T1R1A1M3I1
UK/pæˈstɹɑːmi/UK/pəˈstɹɑːmi/

noun

A seasoned smoked cut of beef, traditionally made from a navel cut.

OriginYiddish פּאַסטראַמע ← Romanian pastramă ← Ottoman Turkish باصدرمه →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounpastrami (countable and uncountable, plural pastramis)

plural pastramis · alternative rare pastrame · alternative dated pastromi

  1. countableuncountableA seasoned smoked cut of beef, traditionally made from a navel cut.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπαστός“sprinkled with salt, salted”
  2. Greekπαστώνω“I salt”
  3. Turkishpastırma
  4. Ottoman Turkishباصدرمه
  5. Romanianpastramă
  6. Yiddishפּאַסטראַמע
  7. Englishpastrami

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאַסטראַמע (pastrame), from Romanian pastramă, from Ottoman Turkish باصدرمه (modern Turkish pastırma), a variation of bastırma (“dried meat”), from root bas- (“to press”). It is sometimes claimed that the origin of the Turkish word is Greek παστώνω (pastóno, “I salt”), from Ancient Greek παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt, salted”). The English spelling ending in -mi is probably from the influence of salami.

More words from Yiddish, Romanian, Ottoman Turkish

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пастърма
  • пастърма (pastărma)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Chinese Mandarin 五香熏牛肉
  • 五香熏牛肉 (wǔxiāng xūn niúròu)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Finnish pastrami
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
French pastrami
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
German Pastrami
  • Pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
Greek παστουρμάς
  • παστουρμάς (pastourmás)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Japanese パストラミ
  • パストラミ (pasutorami)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Korean 파스트라미
  • 파스트라미 (paseuteurami)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Polish pastrami
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
Portuguese pastrami
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
Romanian pastramă
  • pastramăseasoned smoked cut of beef
Russian пастрома́, пастра́ми
  • пастрома́ (pastromá)seasoned smoked cut of beef
  • пастра́ми (pastrámi)seasoned smoked cut of beef
Spanish pastrami, pastrón
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
  • pastrónseasoned smoked cut of beef
Tagalog pastrami
  • pastramiseasoned smoked cut of beef
Turkish pastırma
  • pastırmaseasoned smoked cut of beef
Yiddish פּאַסטראַמע
  • פּאַסטראַמע (pastrame)seasoned smoked cut of beef

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

pastirma
Cite this entry
APA

pastrami. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastrami

MLA

“pastrami.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastrami. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pastrami,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastrami.

Source: pastrami on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.