meso
/mêːso/Latin, neuter
The Croatian word for "meat" is meso.
meso refers to animal flesh used as food. When specifying types of meat, you might use more specific terms such as svinjetina (pork), govedina (beef) or janjetina (lamb). For specific dishes or preparations, you can use kulen for spicy sausage, pečenje for roast or ćevapi for grilled minced meat.
Meaning: animal flesh used as food (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
meso is a neuter noun. As a neuter noun, its form remains meso in the accusative case when it is a direct object. The plural form is mesa. In the locative case, such as in the phrase u mesu (in the meat), the word changes to mesu.
How do you pronounce it?
/mêːso/
Did you know?
- The word meso is a linguistic relative of the English word 'muscle', as both descend from an ancient root referring to flesh and tissue.
- If you are looking for a 'meatless' dish, a Croatian might use the term posno jelo, where 'posno' refers to something being 'lean' or 'empty' of fats and meat, often for religious fasting.
- In Croatian, the word meso is used in the idiomatic expression imati mesa u kostima, which literally means 'to have meat in the bones' but is used to describe someone who is physically strong or robust.
Examples in context
- Tom ne jede crveno meso.Tom doesn't eat dark meat.This sentence demonstrates the use of meso in a negative statement about eating.Tatoeba #10756264 by LahiLuk, translation #2023849 by CK
- Ne želim meso.I don't want meat.This sentence shows how to use meso to express a lack of desire for something.Tatoeba #1051127 by akvo, translation #453790 by saasmath
- Pas voli meso.The dog likes meat.This sentence illustrates meso as the object of a preference.Tatoeba #1389954 by Shishir, translation #10251647 by LimeGreenTeknii
- Dobar dan, mogu li dobiti jelovnik? Zanima me koja jela s mesom nudite?Good day, may I have a menu? I am interested in the dishes with meat that you offer.
- Hej, hoćemo li danas isprobati neko novo meso u restoranu?Hey, shall we try some new meat at the restaurant today?
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ana and Marko are deciding what to cook for dinner.
- AnaImamo li meso za večeru?Do we have meat for dinner?
- MarkoNe, moramo otići u trgovinu.No, we have to go to the store.
- AnaMožeš li ti kupiti meso?Can you buy the meat?
- MarkoNaravno, kupit ću ga kasnije.Of course, I will buy it later.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “meat” translations and entries meso, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
