deli

UK/ˈdɛli/US/ˈdɛli/

nounB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,719 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: delis

A deli is a shop selling fine cheeses, cold meats and ready food. The corner deli, a deli counter, buy it at the deli.

The New York deli is an institution of its own, with sandwiches built to a scale nobody elsewhere attempts. The word is short for delicatessen, which is German and means delicacies.

Definitions of deli

1noundeliA shop selling fine cheeses, cold meats and ready food.B1+
“I grabbed a sandwich and some olives from the deli on the corner.”

deli is a shop.

Also accepted in games: delicatessen

Where it comes from

A shortening of delicatessen, from German Delikatessen, delicacies, ultimately from French.

Latin
delicatus
French
délicatesse
German
Delikatessen
English, today
deli

Built from

Delikatesse · German — delicacy, fine food

Attested since 1954. a clipping of delicatessen, from German Delikatessen, plural of Delikatesse (“delicacy, fine food”), from French délicatesse, derived from the adjective délicat, from Latin delicatus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

deli in the wild

Today, many large retail stores like supermarkets have deli sections.
Delicatessen
In 2016, Zagat gave Katz's a food rating of 4.5 out of 5, and ranked it as the number one deli in New York City.
Katz's Delicatessen
The menu includes deli sandwiches, "giant spuds" (baked potatoes), soups, salads, and desserts, as well as catering items such as sandwich trays and boxed lunches.
McAlister's Deli
Ben & Esther's Vegan Jewish Deli, or simply Ben & Esther's, is a small chain of vegan Jewish delis in the United States.
Ben & Esther's Vegan Jewish Deli

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the delicatus family

deli delicatessen

deli — used about once every 1,559 pages · #5,719 · point at the bar for the others

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