Hamburger

How to spell hamburger

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce hamburger

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hamburger mean?

1. nounA flat round patty of minced beef, usually cooked and served inside a bread bun.

Hamburger in a sentence

• He ordered a hamburger with fries and a milkshake.

• The chef grilled each hamburger until it was cooked right through.

Where does hamburger come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Hamburg, the great northern German port city, and originally referred to something 'from Hamburg', much as a Frankfurter comes from Frankfurt. In late nineteenth-century America the term 'Hamburger steak' described a patty of minced beef said to be prepared in the Hamburg style, and German immigrants helped popularise the dish. The name was soon shortened to just 'hamburger', and once the patty was served in a bun the whole sandwich took the name. A folk reinterpretation later split the word as 'ham' plus 'burger', even though no ham is involved, and this misreading spawned the productive ending '-burger' seen in cheeseburger and veggie burger. The spelling preserves the German city: it is Hamburg with an -er, which is why there is no 'h' in the middle and only one 'm'.

How the word is built

• Hamburg (German city name)
• -er (suffix meaning 'belonging to or coming from')