Etymology
The word salami, as currently used in English, is actually the plural form of the Italian salame; it is indifferently used as a singular or plural word in English for cured meats in a European, particularly Italian, style. In Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish it is Salam; in Hungarian it is szalámi; in French it is saucisson.
The word originates from the word Sale (salt) with a termination -ame used in Italian as an indicator of collective nouns; the original meaning was thus all kind of salted (meats). The Italian tradition of cured meats including several styles, the word salame soon specialised to indicate only the most popular kind, made with ground, salted and spiced meat forced into animal gut with an elongated and thin shape, then left to undergo some kind of fermentation process.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
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