salt
English
Etymology
From Middle English salt, from Old English sealt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą (compare Dutch zout, German Salz, Norwegian Bokmål salt and Swedish salt), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂l- (compare Welsh halen, Old Irish salann, Latin sal, Russian соль (solʹ), Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls), Albanian ngjelmë (“salty, savory”), Old Armenian աղ (ał), Tocharian A sāle, Sanskrit सलिल (salila)).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /sɔːlt/, /sɒlt/
- (US) IPA(key): /sɔlt/, /sɑlt/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /sɒɯt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɒlt
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Noun
salt (countable and uncountable, plural salts)
- A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative.
- c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 [Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11:
- Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]
- c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 [Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11:
- (chemistry) One of the compounds formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, where a positive ion replaces a hydrogen of the acid.
- (uncommon) A salt marsh, a saline marsh at the shore of a sea.
- (slang) A sailor (also old salt).
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
- Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and gossiping, clusters of old salts.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, chapter 1
- I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook.
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
- (cryptography) Randomly chosen bytes added to a plaintext message prior to encrypting or hashing it, in order to render brute-force decryption more difficult.
- A person who seeks employment at a company in order to (once employed by it) help unionize it.
- (obsolete) Flavour; taste; seasoning.
- Shakespeare
- Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen […] we have some salt of our youth in us.
- Shakespeare
- (obsolete) Piquancy; wit; sense.
- Attic salt
- (obsolete) A dish for salt at table; a salt cellar.
- Samuel Pepys
- I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver salts.
- Samuel Pepys
- (figuratively) Skepticism and common sense.
- Any politician's statements must be taken with a grain of salt, but his need to be taken with a whole shaker of salt.
- (Internet slang) Indignation; outrage; arguing.
- There was so much salt in that thread about the poor casting decision.
Derived terms
- besalted
- chicken salt
- desalt
- Epsom salt
- Great Salt Lake
- hair-salt
- persalt
- pinch of salt
- protosalt
- rock salt
- rub salt in the wound
- salt and pepper
- saltcellar
- salt-free
- salt lake
- Salt Lake City
- Salt Lake County
- salt marsh
- salt of the earth
- salt sea
- saltspoon
- saltwater
- salty
- sea salt
- table salt
- take with a pinch of salt
- worth one's salt
Related terms
Translations
Adjective
salt (comparative more salt, superlative most salt)
- Salty; salted.
- salt beef; salt tears
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.
- Saline.
- a salt marsh; salt grass
- Related to salt deposits, excavation, processing or use.
- a salt mine
- The salt factory is a key connecting element in the seawater infrastructure.
- (figuratively, obsolete) Bitter; sharp; pungent.
- c. 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, Scene 4,
- I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me;
- c. 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, Scene 4,
- (figuratively, obsolete) Salacious; lecherous; lustful; (of animals) in heat.
- 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello Act III, Scene 3:
- It is impossible you should see this, / Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, / As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross / As ignorance made drunk.
- 1653, Thomas Urquhart (translator), The First Book of the works of Mr. Francis Rabelais, Book 2, Chapter 22, p. 153,
- And when he saw that all the dogs were flocking about her, yarring at the retardment of their accesse to her, and every way keeping such a coyle with her, as they are wont to do about a proud or salt bitch, he forthwith departed […]
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Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb
salt (third-person singular simple present salts, present participle salting, simple past and past participle salted)
- (transitive) To add salt to.
- to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt the city streets in the winter
- (intransitive) To deposit salt as a saline solution.
- The brine begins to salt.
- To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.
- To insert or inject something into an object to give it properties it would not naturally have.
- (mining) To blast metal into (as a portion of a mine) in order to cause to appear to be a productive seam.
- (archaeology) To add bogus evidence to an archeological site.
- To include colorful language in.
- (cryptography) To add filler bytes before encrypting, in order to make brute-force decryption more resource-intensive.
Antonyms
- (add salt): desalt
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Catalan
Etymology
From Old Occitan sal, from Latin saltus.
Crimean Gothic
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂l-.
Czech
Danish
Etymology 1
From Old Norse saltr (“salt”), from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /salt/, [salˀd̥]
Inflection
Inflection of salt | |||
---|---|---|---|
Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
Common singular | salt | saltere | saltest2 |
Neuter singular | salt | saltere | saltest2 |
Plural | salte | saltere | saltest2 |
Definite attributive1 | salte | saltere | salteste |
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively. |
Etymology 2
From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls. Compare Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish salt.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /salt/, [salˀd̥]
Inflection
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the main entry.
Faroese

Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [sal̥t]
Etymology 1
From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.
Declension
Declension of salt | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
n5 | singular | plural | ||
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | salt | saltið | sølt | søltini |
accusative | salt | saltið | sølt | søltini |
dative | salti | saltinum | søltum | søltunum |
genitive | salts | saltsins | salta | saltanna |
Related terms
- pipar
- edikur
- sinnopur
- olivinolja
- epli
- pannukøka
- rosina
- sukur
- drúvusukur
- vaniljusukur
- súltusukur
- siropur
Etymology 2
From Old Norse saltr (“salt”), from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.
Declension
saltur a21 | |||
Singular (eintal) | m (kallkyn) | f (kvennkyn) | n (hvørkikyn) |
Nominative (hvørfall) | saltur | sølt | salt |
Accusative (hvønnfall) | saltan | salta | |
Dative (hvørjumfall) | søltum | saltari | søltum |
Genitive (hvørsfall) | (salts) | (saltar/ saltrar) |
(salts) |
Plural (fleirtal) | m (kallkyn) | f (kvennkyn) | n (hvørkikyn) |
Nominative (hvørfall) | saltir | saltar | sølt |
Accusative (hvønnfall) | saltar | ||
Dative (hvørjumfall) | søltum | ||
Genitive (hvørsfall) | (salta saltra) |
Friulian
Gothic
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sal̥t/
listen (file) - Rhymes: -al̥t
Noun
salt n (genitive singular salts, nominative plural sölt)
- salt
- Geturðu rétt mér saltið?
- Can you pass me the salt?
- Geturðu rétt mér saltið?
Declension
Latvian
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“cold; hot”). Cognates include Lithuanian šálti.
Declension
INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) | IMPERATIVE (pavēles izteiksme) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present (tagadne) |
Past (pagātne) |
Future (nākotne) | |||
1st pers. sg. | es | salstu | salu | salšu | — |
2nd pers. sg. | tu | salsti | sali | salsi | salsti |
3rd pers. sg. | viņš, viņa | salst | sala | sals | lai salst |
1st pers. pl. | mēs | salstam | salām | salsim | salsim |
2nd pers. pl. | jūs | salstat | salāt | salsiet, salsit |
salstiet |
3rd pers. pl. | viņi, viņas | salst | sala | sals | lai salst |
RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) | PARTICIPLES (divdabji) | ||||
Present | salstot | Present Active 1 (Adj.) | salstošs | ||
Past | esot salis | Present Active 2 (Adv.) | saldams | ||
Future | salšot | Present Active 3 (Adv.) | salstot | ||
Imperative | lai salstot | Present Active 4 (Obj.) | salstam | ||
CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) | Past Active | salis | |||
Present | saltu | Present Passive | salstams | ||
Past | būtu salis | Past Passive | salts | ||
DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) | NOMINAL FORMS | ||||
Indicative | (būt) jāsalst | Infinitive (nenoteiksme) | salt | ||
Conjunctive 1 | esot jāsalst | Negative Infinitive | nesalt | ||
Conjunctive 2 | jāsalstot | Verbal noun | salšana |
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English sealt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą (noun) and Proto-Germanic *saltaz (adjective).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /salt/, /sɛlt/
Noun
salt (uncountable)
- salt (sodium chloride)
- Something containing or for storing salt
- Any of a group of crystalline compounds that resemble salt
References
- “salt (n.(1))” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.
Adjective
salt (inflected form salte, comparative salter, superlative saltest)
- salty, tasting of salt
- salted, coated in salt
References
- “salt (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.
Norwegian Bokmål
Adjective
salt (neuter singular salt, definite singular and plural salte, comparative saltere, indefinite superlative saltest, definite superlative salteste)
Etymology 2
From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls. Compare Danish, Swedish and Icelandic salt.
Derived terms
- bordsalt
- havsalt
- salte (verb)
- saltholdig
- saltinnhold
- saltkrystall
- saltlake
- saltsyre
- saltvann
- sjøsalt
- veisalt
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɑlt/
Adjective
salt (neuter singular salt, definite singular and plural salte, comparative saltare, indefinite superlative saltast, definite superlative saltaste)
Etymology 2
From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls.
Old Danish
Descendants
- Danish: salt
Swedish
Etymology 1
From Old Swedish salter, from Old Norse saltr, from Proto-Germanic *saltaz, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /salt/
audio (file)
Declension
Inflection of salt | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | salt | saltare | saltast |
Neuter singular | salt | saltare | saltast |
Plural | salta | saltare | saltast |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | salte | saltare | saltaste |
All | salta | saltare | saltaste |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. |
Etymology 2
From Old Swedish salt, from Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls. Compare Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian salt.
Noun
salt n
- salt
- (uncountable) sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative.
- (chemistry) One of the compounds formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, where a positive ion replaces a hydrogen of the acid.
Declension
Declension of salt | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | salt | saltet | salter | salterna |
Genitive | salts | saltets | salters | salternas |
Synonyms
Derived terms
- bergsalt
- havssalt
- medelhavssalt
- saltlake
- saltkristall
- saltstänkt
- saltsyra
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /saɫt/