bologna
noun
a large seasoned sausage made of finely ground meat, usually beef and pork, that has been cooked and smoked.
bologna
1 American
[buh-loh-nee, -nuh, -lohn-yuh]
/ bəˈloʊ ni, -nə, -ˈloʊn jə /
noun
-
bolognas
plural
Bologna
2
American
[buh-lohn-yuh, baw-law-nyah]
/ bəˈloʊn jə, bɔˈlɔ njɑ /
noun
-
Giovanni da Jean de BoulogneGiambologna, c1525–1608, Italian sculptor, born in France.
-
a city in N Italy.
Bologna
1
British
/ boˈloɲɲa, bəˈləʊnjə /
noun
Bologna
2
British
/ boˈloɲɲa, bəˈləʊnjə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bologna
1555–65; after Bologna, Italy
Explanation
Bologna is a sliced sausage often used as lunch meat. If there's "mystery meat" on the menu at school, you'll probably be glad you packed a bologna sandwich. Bologna evolved from mortadella, a pork sausage invented in Bologna, Italy. While bologna is pork-based, it can contain beef, chicken, turkey, or even soy protein. This pale, salty lunch meat is mild in flavor and a favorite with kids who find salami a bit too spicy. The correct pronunciation is "bo-LO-nya," but it's common to say "ba-LO-nee" instead. Experts attribute this to Anglicization, which often leaves Italian words with Y endings — like Italia becoming Italy.
Vocabulary lists containing bologna
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If Charles was spotted eating a bologna sandwich for lunch, you risked teasing if that’s what your mom put in your bag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Jorge, whom I met selling bologna in the market, used to be an engineer at a state enterprise.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026
It was so hot that the bologna sandwiches the farmers fed their young workers for lunch toasted in the shade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
From inside a trailer built by her bishop, the title of local Amish church leaders, Sadie S. King’s wares included scrapple, homemade bologna and six quarts of her own horseradish.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
She should have put something in her letter apologizing for all the lies she had told me—including the lies about bologna.
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
Among the visitors on a recent day was Duccio Pierazzi, a 64-year-old architect from Bologna.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
A new study led by researchers at the University of Bologna suggests that the markings were far more organized than simple scratches or improvised decorations.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Wes is an amazing community-builder as a human being,” said Peter Becker, president of Criterion, in a video call from the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
After all, we’re on a planet where the city of Rome has been continually inhabited for 2,700 years, and the University of Bologna has been matriculating students for 938.
From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2026
“You see what you’re doing? You’ve got them all acting like you! Suppose it stops raining and we have to fly to Bologna tomorrow. You’ll be in fine physical condition.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
He composed little, settled down in Paris to grow fat from his well-stocked wine cellar and his imported bolognas.
From Time Magazine Archive
Before embarking on the Walsh he laid in a stock of "bolognas," a few pounds of the rankest "Sweitzer kase" and an abundance of "pretzels."
From The Expressman and the Detective by Allan Pinkerton
An’ ef de chile didn’t grab one 192 of ma bolognas and done git out de cab an’ run around de house.”
From Our Next-Door Neighbors by Belle Kanaris Maniates
Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, all contribute, as does India, Persia, Arabia, and each pay their quota, in sour-krout, raisins, parmera, bolognas, curacao, rice, sago, soy, potatoes, etc.
From The Physiology of Taste by Fayette Robinson
"Does he mean our rations have gone short, and that we'll have to go collecting bolognas?" innocently asked a young American, who had lately joined.
From Air Service Boys Over The Rhine Fighting Above The Clouds by Charles Amory Beach
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
