delicatessen

English

French delicacies sold in delicatessens

Alternative forms

• delikatessen

Etymology

First attested 1864. From German Delikatessen, plural of Delikatesse (“delicacy, fine food”), at the time also spelt Delicatesse(n), from French délicatesse, from délicat (“fine”), from Latin delicatus (“alluring”).

The sense of store is much more recent, originating in ellipsis from the common attributive use, as in delicatessen shop, delicatessen store, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɛlɪkəˈtɛsən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

delicatessen (plural delicatessens)

1. A shop that sells cooked or prepared foods ready for serving.

Derived terms

• deli

Translations

shop selling prepared foods

• Catalan: delicatessen (ca) f pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熟食店 (shúshídiàn)

• Danish: delikatessebutik c, delikatesseforretning c
• Esperanto: bongustaĵejo, delicaĵejo, delikataĵejo, frandaĵvendejo
• French: traiteur (fr) m, épicerie fine (fr) f
• German: Feinkostladen (de) m, Delikatessengeschäft (de) n, Delikatessenladen (de) m
• Greek: αλλαντικά (el) n pl (allantiká)
• Hebrew: מַעֲדַנִּיָּה f (ma'adaniyá)
• Italian: gastronomia (it) f
• Japanese: デリカテッセン (ja) (derikatessen), 総菜屋 (そうざいや, sōzaiya), デリカ (ja)
• Maori: toa kai-kīnaki
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: delikatessebutikk m

  Nynorsk: delikatessebutikk m

• Polish: delikatesy (pl) m pl
• Portuguese: delicatessen (pt) f
• Russian: гастроно́м (ru) m (gastronóm), деликате́сы (ru) m pl (delikatɛ́sy)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: посластичара f, посластичарница f

  Roman: poslastičara f, poslastičarnica (sh) f

• Spanish: delicatessen m
• Swedish: delikatessaffär
• Welsh: danteithfa f
• Yiddish: וווּרשטערײַ f (vurshteray), דעליקאַטעסן (delikatesn)

Noun

delicatessen pl (plural only)

1. Delicacies; exotic or expensive foods.

Related terms

• delicacy

Translations

delicacies

• German: Delikatessen (de) pl, Feinkost (de) f
• Greek: λιχουδιές (el) f pl (lichoudiés), ορεκτικά (el) n pl (orektiká)
• Norman: d'licatesses f pl
• Yiddish: דעליקאַטעסן pl (delikatesn)

Anagrams

• delicateness

Dutch

Etymology

First attested 1642 [1]. Plural of delicatesse (“fine food”), from French délicatesse, from délicat (“fine”), from Latin delicatus (“alluring”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

delicatessen

1. delicacies, fine food
2. plural of delicatesse

Synonyms

• lekkernijen

Further reading

• Chronological dictionary of the Dutch language
• Etymologiebank.nl

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• delicatesse

Noun

delicatessen f (plural delicatessens)

1. delicatessen (shop selling prepared foods)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English delicatessen, from German Delikatessen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /delikaˈtesen/ [d̪e.li.kaˈt̪e.sẽn]
• Rhymes: -esen
• Syllabification: de‧li‧ca‧tes‧sen

Noun

delicatessen f (plural delicatessens)

1. delicatessen

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Alternative forms

• delicatesen

Further reading

• “delicatessen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014