Dictionary

wurst en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /vʊɹst/ (General-American)
• /vɝst/ (General-American)
• /wɝst/ (General-American)
• /vɜːst/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /wɜːst/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /vʊəst/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

First attested in 1890. Borrowed from German Wurst (“sausage, wurst”), from Middle High German wurst, from Old High German wurst, from Proto-West Germanic *wursti (“something turned or twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wert-, *werd- (“to turn”). Akin to Old Saxon worst (“wurst”), Old English weorþan (“to turn, become”). Doublet of wors. Unrelated to worsted (“type of yarn”). More at worth (“to be, become, betide”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A German- or Austrian-style sausage.
   • Although the supermarket tannoy was bravely broadcasting Rigoletto, its meat counter was thick with wurst and its wine shelves loaded with Liebfraumilch. 1987, Christina Hardyment, “Harlekins and Gondolas”, in Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe, Book Club edition, New York, N.Y.: The Atlantic Monthly Press, →OCLC, page 163:
   • We had a long walk ahead to Stuttgart. We stopped to eat at a little meat market just outside Augsburg. I bought a loaf of bread and chose a couple of packages of wurst. It really was good. 1973, Sammy Tippit, as told to Jerry Jenkins, “With God in Germany”, in Sammy Tippit: God’s Love in Action, Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, published 1976, →ISBN, page 117:
   • If you pick up a package of liverwurst (German wurst, sausage), you may find that it contains, in addition to liver, nonfat dry milk, salt, corn syrup, flavorings (unspecified), sodium erythrobate, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, gelatin, and dextrose. The list reads like a list of chemicals for a laboratory experiment! If you wish to avoid “chemicals” in your food, wurst is one of the worst things you can buy. 1975, John W[illiam] Hill, “Food: A Collage of Chemicals”, in Chemistry for Changing Times, 2nd edition, Minneapolis, Minn.: Burgess Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 251:
   • Leaving Munich the next day they headed west to Langsberg where they refuelled with würste and sauerkraut before pedalling south along the banks of the river Lech to Schongau where they would spend the night, a distance of eighty-five kilometres. 2016, J.E. Kellenberger, “In Time: 2010”, in Unsafe Deposit, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 65:
   • Beyond lay the stately drab edifices of East Germany’s showpiece, now thronged with würste and sauerkraut sellers catering to the crowds. 1995, Robert Harvey, “The Thaw and the Flood”, in The Return of the Strong: The Drift to Global Disorder, London: Macmillan London, →ISBN, page 3:
   • In summer, you're welcomed into a flower-decked garden set against a backdrop of ancient vineyards. You can fill up your platter with some of the best wursts and roast meats (especially the delectable pork), along with freshly made salads. 2011, Dardis McNamee, Frommer's Austria:
   • Sure, the map says it’s Italy, but after walking through the centuries-old market at Piazza Erbe (Obstplatz) and seeing one too many suspiciously Teutonic-looking locals munching wurst, you might think you’ve crossed the Austrian border. 1994, Berkeley students in cooperation with the Associated Students of the University of California, “Bolzano”, in “The Dolomites and the Northeast”, in Italy on the Loose 1995 (The Berkeley Guides: The Budget Traveler’s Handbook), New York, N.Y.: Fodor’s Travel Publications, Inc., →ISBN, page 85:
   • […] the seared loin and boiled potatoes, recipes rehearsed into routine. She worries over them now as a widow over rosary beads. Links of würste, quartered onion. 2013, Deborah Paredez, “Auguste Arrives”, in Feminist Studies, volume 39, number 3, College Park, Md.: Feminist Studies, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 724:
   • At an open-air flea market, we looked for Nazi memorabilia while munching wurst and drinking beer. 2009, Tom Davis, “Incidents and Coincidence: Death Camps, Franken, and the Beatles”, in Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 201:

Forms

Deriveds

liverwurst · beerwurst · blood wurst

Relateds

knockwurst · weisswurst · blutwurst · bierwurst · bratwurst · wienerwurst · currywurst · bockwurst · knackwurst · Hans Wurst · Hanswurst · Bierwurst

Translations (4)

fr wurst (German- or Austrian-style sausage) · de Wurst (German- or Austrian-style sausage) · ru вурст (German- or Austrian-style sausage) · yi וווּרשט (German- or Austrian-style sausage)