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Glite Dictionary
Wiener schnitzel

Wiener schnitzel

1 6.7
A thin piece of veal breaded and fried, often served with lemon
  • noun
  • /ˈviːnər ˈʃnɪtsəl/
translation icon : escalope vienés
  • For our family gathering, my mother prepared a classic Wiener schnitzel with lemon wedges.

You give me a Wiener Schnitzel, right?

Examples

  • Her Wiener schnitzel is to die for.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • You give me a Wiener Schnitzel, right?

    IMPAULSIVE

  • My favorite food is Wiener schnitzel.

    Another You (1991)

  • Do you like Wiener schnitzel?

    Another You (1991)

  • ...der Wiener schnitzel -

    The Great Dictator (1940)

  • Many people enjoy eating Wiener schnitzel at Austrian restaurants.

  • I had a delicious Wiener schnitzel for dinner last night, served with a side of potato salad.

Synonyms

schnitzel
vsWiener schnitzel
9 5.5

A thin piece of meat, usually veal or pork, that is breaded and fried

is specific to veal and to Austrian culinary tradition
schnitz
vsWiener schnitzel
  • Australian
2 9.9

A breaded cutlet of meat, usually chicken or pork, served hot

is a formal veal focused Austrian dish rather than an informal variation

Surface Forms

Wiener schnitzel singular
Wiener schnitzels plural

Morphology

Wiener + schnitzel

The phrase is compositional: 'schnitzel' denotes a breaded fried meat cutlet and 'Wiener' (Wien = Vienna) signals provenance, so a learner who knows both words can infer a Viennese style schnitzel (i.e., the specific breaded veal dish). Although 'wiener' can also mean a sausage in casual English, in culinary/proper-name contexts the origin-based adjective makes the meaning predictable and cross-linguistically transparent.

Etymology

Wiener schnitzel comes from Vienna: Wiener means 'from Vienna' and schnitzel means a thin slice of meat. People bread and fry that thin slice, so the name tells us it is a Viennese breaded cutlet, which is the meaning today.