Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1900s
Pastrami
from פּאַסטראַמע (pastrame)
- Meaning
- Brined, seasoned, smoked beef brisket.
- Source word
- פּאַסטראַמע (pastrame)
- Route into English
- Yiddish *pastrame* (from Romanian *pastramă*, from Turkish *basdırma*, "pressed meat") → English via Jewish immigrants' delicatessens in late 19th-century New York. A multi-borrowing.
- Arrived
- 1900s
From Yiddish
Mass migration from Ashkenazi Eastern Europe to New York (1880–1920) funnelled Yiddish into American English, from where it diffused globally.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.