Etymology

From Yiddish פּאַסטראַמע ‎(pastrame), from Romanian pastrama. That word is probably from Turkish pastırma, a variation of bastırma ‎(“dried meat”), from root *bas-, to press; the other possible origin of the Romanian word is the Greek παστώνω ‎(pastóno, “I salt”), from Ancient Greek παστός ‎(pastós, “sprinkled with salt, salted”). The English spelling ending in -mi is probably from the influence of salami.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pæˈstɹɑːmi/, /pəˈstɹɑːmi/
• (US) enPR: pə-sträʹmē, IPA^(key): /pəˈstɹɑːmi/