What does bratwurst mean?
A bratwurst is a German-style sausage made from finely ground meat—most commonly pork, often combined with veal or beef—and seasoned with spices such as marjoram, caraway, or garlic before being grilled, pan-fried, or poached. Borrowed into English directly from German, it is used both as a countable noun referring to an individual sausage link and, in food contexts, as an uncountable noun describing the meat itself. Bratwurst carries strong associations with German cuisine and culture: it is a staple at beer gardens, Oktoberfest celebrations, street fairs, and backyard barbecues, particularly in parts of the United States with German heritage such as Wisconsin. Typically served in a roll or alongside sauerkraut, mustard, or potato salad, it occupies a comfortable place in everyday speech as an appetizing, familiar term. Its long history in German-speaking regions has made it not just a food but a recognizable cultural symbol wherever German cooking traditions have taken root.
nounA type of German sausage made from finely minced pork, beef, or veal, typically seasoned and grilled or pan-fried; the word also refers to a single link of such sausage.
- A German-style sausage made of finely ground pork, veal, or beef, usually sold as individual links.
- (Uncountable) The meat or type of sausage itself, treated as a mass noun, as in food contexts.
"The festival stalls were filled with the smell of sizzling bratwurst and sauerkraut."
"He flipped the bratwurst on the grill until the casing turned golden brown."
"For lunch we shared a plate of bratwurst with mustard and warm pretzels."
Both "bratwursts" and the unchanged form "bratwurst" are standard; the invariant plural reflects the German original.
"The vendor sold dozens of bratwurst during the fair."
The name comes from two old German words — one for finely chopped meat, one for sausage — making bratwurst literally a sausage of minced meat, with roots stretching back centuries in German-speaking Europe.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bratwurst
The word "bratwurst" was borrowed from German, where it combines "Brät" — a term for finely chopped, ground meat — with "Wurst", meaning sausage. It entered English usage through contact with German food culture, becoming well established in American English in areas settled by German immigrants. Cognates within English include other borrowed compound words ending in "-wurst", such as "wienerwurst", "knackwurst", and "liverwurst", all sharing the same German root element for sausage.
How bratwurst is actually used
The word functions as both a countable noun ("two bratwursts") and, especially in food writing, an uncountable noun ("some bratwurst"). Both plural forms are accepted: "bratwursts" and the invariant German-style "bratwurst". It is a neutral, everyday culinary term rather than formal vocabulary.
Easily confused with bratwurst
"Brat" is an informal term for a badly behaved child, while "bratwurst" is a type of German sausage — despite the shared opening syllable, they are unrelated in meaning.