Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pastrami

/pəˈstɹɑːmi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.42 in modern English

Syllables: pas-tra-mi
IPA: /pəˈstɹɑːmi/

12

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A seasoned smoked cut of beef, traditionally made from a navel cut.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאַסטראַמע (pastrame), from Romanian pastramă, from Ottoman Turkish باصدرمه (modern Turkish pastırma), a variation of bastırma (“dried meat”), from root bas- (“to press”). It is sometimes claimed that the origin of the Turkish word is Greek παστώνω (pastóno, “I salt”), from Ancient Greek παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt, salted”). The English spelling ending in -mi is probably from the influence of salami.

Origin

Source language: Yiddish

Word Breakdown

Root: פּאַסטראַמע, pastramă, باصدرمه, pastırma, παστώνω, παστός

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /pəˈstɹɑːmi/
British English: /pæˈstɹɑːmi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

pastramis (plural) pastrame (alternative, rare) pastromi (alternative, dated)

Phrases

corned beef smoked meat salt beef smoked beef

Frequently Paired Words

pastirma pastrama corned beef smoked meat salt beef smoked beef

Rhymes With

tommy mommy tsunami ami swami rami commie salami murakami balmy tommie minami

Questions

How do you pronounce pastrami?: The recorded pronunciation is /pəˈstɹɑːmi/.
What does pastrami mean?: A seasoned smoked cut of beef, traditionally made from a navel cut.
Where does pastrami come from?: It is traced to Yiddish.

How to pronounce pastrami

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pastrami”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pəˈstɹɑːmi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “pastrami” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.