salami

American  

[suh-lah-mee] / səˈlɑ mi /

noun

1. a kind of sausage, originally Italian, often flavored with garlic.

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salami British  

/ səˈlɑːmɪ /

noun

1. a highly seasoned type of sausage, usually flavoured with garlic

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Etymology

Origin of salami

1850–55; < Italian, plural of salame < Vulgar Latin *salāmen, equivalent to *salā ( re ) to salt + Latin -men noun suffix; see sal

Explanation

Salami is a type of cured sausage that's very common in sandwiches. This slightly spicy, salty meat is almost always served thinly sliced and is rarely heated or cooked. Salami is traditionally made from dried and fermented beef or pork, and seasoned with white pepper, garlic, salt, and herbs. It's a popular sandwich ingredient, as it's easy to slice and tastes great cold. The word salami is the plural form of the Italian salame, "spiced pork sausage," from the Latin root sal, or "salt."

Example Sentences

There’s a refrigerator case with to-go items, including a turkey sandwich, roasted cauliflower bowl, chef salad and a snack box with cheese, salami, grapes and walnuts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

"I'm going to make pigs in blankets but wrap them in salami instead of bacon, and we'll add a couple of Yorkshire puddings," he said.

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2025

“Exactly,” Hilton continued, explaining how his family had a salami business in Hungary and he had gotten his hands plenty dirty in the past, “doing every aspect of making sausage, including killing the pigs.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2025

I, for one, will keep having the occasional slice of salami.

From Slate • Aug. 2, 2025

On New Year’s Eve, as a matter of tradition, she’d buy a special hors d’oeuvre basket, the kind that came filled with blocks of cheese, smoked oysters in a tin, and different kinds of salami.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama