Saveloys

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of spicy sausage, often made from pork and used in British cuisine, commonly served with mustard or in a roll
2. A form of processed meat, typically seasoned and encased in a casing, popular as a snack or quick meal option
3. A seasoned meat product, traditionally comprising minced meat and spices, associated with street food in the UK

Etymology: The most surprising thing about this word is that its name is a mangled version of a foreign sausage name, and the sausage was once made from brains. "Cervelat" was a Swiss smoked beef or pork sausage, and the French "cervelas" named a thick, short sausage. Both come from Italian "cervellata", from "cervello" meaning brain, and the Italian name is thought to reflect a time when the sausage was actually made from pork brains. The Italian word traces back through Latin "cerebellum", meaning "little brain", a diminutive of "cerebrum" ("brain"). Over centuries the foreign name was worn down into the English form, which is a corruption rather than a deliberate borrowing. Its spelling may also have been nudged by the region of Savoy, a historical area now shared between France, Italy and Switzerland, though that link is only a possible influence.