sausage

American  

[saw-sij, sos-ij] / ˈsɔ sɪdʒ, ˈsɒs ɪdʒ /

noun

1. minced pork, beef, or other meats, often combined, together with various added ingredients and seasonings, usually stuffed into a prepared intestine or other casing and often made in links.

2. Aeronautics. a sausage-shaped observation balloon, formerly used in warfare.

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sausage British  

/ ˈsɒsɪdʒ /

noun

1. finely minced meat, esp pork or beef, mixed with fat, cereal or bread, and seasonings ( sausage meat ), and packed into a tube-shaped animal intestine or synthetic casing

2. an object shaped like a sausage

3. informal aeronautics a captive balloon shaped like a sausage

4. nothing at all

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Other Word Forms

• sausage-like adjective
• sausagelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of sausage

1400–50; late Middle English sausige < dialectal Old French sausiche < Late Latin salsīcia, neuter plural of salsīcius seasoned with salt, derivative of Latin salsus salted. See sauce, -itious

Compare meaning

How does sausage compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• bratwurst vs. sausage
• chorizo vs. sausage
• kielbasa vs. sausage

Explanation

Sausage is a food made from meat that's minced or ground, flavored with seasonings, and encased in a thin skin. It's best not to think too much about what lives inside a sausage casing; just enjoy eating it. There are many kinds of sausage, some of which are sold raw, some cooked, and others smoked, cured, or dried. Traditionally, sausages have been a way to avoid waste, by using the less appealing parts of a butchered pig or cow, and a practical way to preserve meat so that it doesn't have to be cooked immediately or frozen. In the mid-fifteenth century, the word was spelled sawsyge, from a Latin root, salsus, or "salted."

Example Sentences

"Every member of my wife's family who's seen the photograph has said 'that's one of June's sausage rolls'."

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

It carries fennel, garlic, chile — all the aromatics embedded in the sausage — and it becomes the vehicle for the Cajun seasoning.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026

As important, our neighbors quickly embraced us, popping over occasionally with gifts of homemade “kulen” sausage or home-brewed plum brandy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

My Domino’s order is a small pepperoni, pineapple, olives and sausage slice ... hand tossed, cheesed up, and then I will get a side of garlic knots and a side of buffalo wings with ranch.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

It’s seafood night, and Mom is making her special crab boil: crab legs, corn on the cob, andouille sausage, crawfish, jumbo shrimp, and small red potatoes.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Related Words

• bratwurst