pastrami

American  

[puh-strah-mee] / pəˈstrɑ mi /

noun

pastramis plural

1. a brisket of beef that has been cured in a mixture of garlic, peppercorns, sugar, coriander seeds, etc., then smoked before cooking.

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pastrami British  

/ pəˈstrɑːmɪ /

noun

1. highly seasoned smoked beef, esp prepared from a shoulder cut

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pastramis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pastrami

1935–40; < Yiddish pastrame < Romanian pastramă pressed, cured meat; a Balkanism of uncertain origin (compare Modern Greek pastramâs, Serbo-Croatian pȁstrma ), perhaps ultimately < Turkish pastιrma, taken as variant of bastιrma, equivalent to bastιr-, causative stem of bas- press, squeeze + -ma verbal noun suffix

Explanation

Pastrami is a thin-sliced kind of sandwich meat you can find at any good deli. You might order a pastrami sandwich on rye bread for lunch every Tuesday. Pastrami is a type of dark, smoked beef that is typically shaved very thin, and piled between sandwich bread, usually rye, and occasionally topped with coleslaw. A great place to sample pastrami is at a traditional Jewish delicatessen — and the word itself comes from the Yiddish pastrame, which is probably rooted in the Turkish basdirma, "dried meat."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pastrami pastramis

While popular variations use turkey, roast beef, pastrami and other deli meats, the original version on offer at the 99-year-old Town Hall Delicatessen is still made with ham and beef tongue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The Order: The sesame bagel is lovely on its own—or spackled with a schmear of pastrami lox cream cheese.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

The pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Delicatessen are iconic, but Meg Ryan’s impassioned exclamations at the deli in “When Harry Met Sally” may be even more iconic.

From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025

Bass ordered pastrami on rye and took notes as Langer described the challenge of maintaining a business when customers have been falling away after decades of loyalty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024

“Nathan’s hot dogs. New York pastrami, corned beef, baked pretzels, NewYork Italian ices, and don’t forget”—he pauses, dramatic—“Manhattan clam chowder.”

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Also yes: A few yards farther down are house-cured pastramis, pickles and hams, all manner of vegetable preparations, and an extensive array of house-smoked fish and their condiments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2016

New York's heritage includes the vast waves of Jewish immigration to the Lower East Side, where rye bread is the chosen sheath for Reubens and hot pastramis.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 1, 2014