smörgås

Swedish

smörgås med ägg och kaviar

(open-face) sandwich with eggs and salty cod roe spread

två smörgåsar

Etymology

Compound of smör (“butter”) +‎ gås (“a lump of butter”), originally referring to small pieces of butter that float to the surface of milk as it is churned. These were spread on bread, and gave the name to the combination of bread and butter (and other toppings).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmœrˌɡoːs/, /ˈsmœrˌɡɔs/

• Audio (Gotland); “en smörgås”:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: smör‧gås, definite: smör‧gås‧en
• Rhymes: -oːs, -ɔs

Noun

smörgås c (countable)

1. an (open-face) sandwich (slice(s) of bread with toppings, usually buttered)

   att bre sig en smörgås

   to make oneself a sandwich

   en ostsmörgås

   a cheese sandwich

2. (collectively) sandwiches (as a dish)

   Volontärerna fick te och smörgås

   The volunteers were given tea and sandwiches [sandwich]

Usage notes

• Open-face sandwiches are the most common type in Swedish cuisine. A sandwich with two pieces of bread can be qualified as a dubbelmacka.
• Almost always buttered (in addition to any toppings), unbuttered bread being considered dry.

Declension

Declension of smörgås

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	smörgås	smörgås
	definite	smörgåsen	smörgåsens
plural	indefinite	smörgåsar	smörgåsars
	definite	smörgåsarna	smörgåsarnas

Synonyms

• macka c

Derived terms

• dubbelsmörgås
• kasta smörgås
• korvsmörgås
• leverpastejsmörgås
• ostsmörgås
• räksmörgås
• skinksmörgås
• smörgåsbord
• smörgåsbricka
• smörgåsgaffel
• smörgåsgrill
• smörgåskaviar
• smörgåskrasse
• smörgåsmat
• smörgåsnisse
• smörgåspaket
• smörgåspapper
• smörgåspålägg
• smörgåstårta

See also

• bröd (“bread”)
• frukost (“breakfast”)
• pålägg (“food put on a sandwich; topping, filling, spread, cold cuts, etc.”)
• smör (“butter”)

References

• “smörgås”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “smörgås”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “smörgås”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• smörgås in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)