carnicería
/kaɾniθeˈɾia/
In Spanish, carnicería is the word for a butcher shop.
A carnicería is a shop where meat is sold. You may also encounter the phrase Expendio de Carnes to mean a meat market.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is derived from carne, which means meat.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, the terms carnes finas or carnicería fina can be used to refer to a high-quality butcher shop that specializes in premium cuts of meat.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of the word is carnicerías. The person who works in the shop is called a carnicero if they are male and a carnicera if they are female.
How do you pronounce it?
/kaɾniθeˈɾia/
Did you know?
- While a carnicería sells meat, the Spanish word for 'meat' carne is also the root for the English word 'carnival', which originally referred to the period of eating meat before Lent.
- The term carnicería can be used metaphorically in Spanish to describe a chaotic or violent scene, much like English speakers might use the word 'slaughterhouse' to describe a difficult situation.
- The Spanish word carne is used to describe the 'meat' of any fruit, such as the carne del aguacate for the flesh of an avocado.
Examples in context
- Voy a la carnicería para comprar un buen corte de carne.I'm going to the butcher shop to buy a nice cut of meat.
- ¡Vamos a la carni para hacer un asado este fin de semana!Let's go to the butcher shop to have a barbecue this weekend!
- Voy a la carnicería a comprar chuletas.I am going to the butcher shop to buy chops.
- La carnicería está cerca de aquí.The butcher shop is near here.
- Necesito ir a la carnicería hoy.I need to go to the butcher shop today.
- ¿Hay una carnicería en este barrio?Is there a butcher shop in this neighborhood?
Example conversation
Elena and Alejandro are planning their grocery shopping.
- ElenaAlejandro, ¿vamos a la carnicería?Alejandro, are we going to the butcher shop?
- AlejandroSí, Elena, necesitamos comprar carne.Yes, Elena, we need to buy meat.
- ElenaLa carnicería nueva es muy buena.The new butcher shop is very good.
- AlejandroPerfecto, vamos ahora mismo.Perfect, let's go right now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry carnicería, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
