French word

charcuterie

Pronunciation

IPA/ʃaʁkytəʁi/

Meaning

  • feminine nouncold cuts

Example

Je vais acheter de la charcuterie pour l'apéritif.

I'm going to buy some cold cuts for the aperitif.

Illustration for charcuterie (cold cuts)

More examples

Elle est allée à la charcuterie du marché.

She went to the deli at the market.

Core concept

A range of cured, smoked, salted, or cooked meats presented as food or offered behind a deli counter.

Common phrases

  • aller à la charcuterie

    go to the deli

  • un plateau de charcuterie

    a platter of deli meats

  • acheter de la charcuterie

    buy deli meats

Similar words

jambon: Thinly sliced meat, usually pork, preserved by salting or smoking.
saucisson: A cured sausage dried in its casing and eaten in slices.
boucherie: A store where raw meat is cut and sold.
pâté: A savory paste of finely chopped meat and organ meats.

Definition in French

Produits alimentaires préparés à partir de viande, généralement cuits, salés ou fumés, et, par extension, le magasin qui les vend.

Word origin

The noun is derived from charcutier, the meat preparer, with chair for meat and cuit for cooked; chair traces back to Latin caro.

Usage tips

  • French uses charcuterie for both the products and the shop, so context distinguishes acheter de la charcuterie from entrer dans une charcuterie.

Other meanings

  • delicatessennoun

Related words

  • charcutiercharcutiernoun
  • charcutièrefemale charcutiernoun

Word lists with this word