wiener

Etymology

It is short for wienerwurst,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} borrowed from German Wienerwurst (“Vienna sausage”),^[8][4][3] from Wiener (“of Vienna”), an adjective from Wien (“Vienna”), and Wurst (“sausage”).^[4][3][7] German itself uses Wiener alone, and the diminutive Wienerle, for the sausage.^[2] The spelling weiner is an alteration.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small smoked sausage like a frankfurter: 1880, in the Alton (Illinois) Daily Telegraph.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1900, Barnhart to 1904.^[3][5][4] The longer wienerwurst is recorded from 1874 in Etymonline, 1875 in the OED and 1889 in Barnhart.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is originally and chiefly North American.^[2][9] The colloquial form wienie is recorded from 1911, and Barnhart finds it earlier in the misspelling winnies (1867).^[4][3] Wiener roast, an outdoor party where sausages are cooked, is recorded by 1910.^[3][10] From the shape of the sausage the word came to mean the penis (1935), and then, Etymonline suggests, a weak or contemptible person (1970).^[2][3] In Britain the word is pronounced with /v/, as in German.^[2]

Timeline

• 1880 – a small smoked sausage.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1900.^[3][5]
• 1911 – the form wienie.^[3][4]
• 1935 – the penis.^[2]
• 1970 – a weak, foolish or socially inept person.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly North American) A frankfurter: a small, thin smoked sausage of beef and pork.^[2][5][9]
2. (North American, colloquial) The penis.^[2]
3. (North American, colloquial) A person held in contempt as weak, foolish or socially inept; a weenie.^[2]

Related words

• wiener schnitzel
• wienerwurst
• weenie
• Vienna

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press