salon

The word “salon” means a business offering beauty treatments such as hair styling, manicures, or skincare. In plain terms, most commonly a hair or beauty business today, though it originally meant an elegant social gathering room.

“Salon” is pronounced SA-lon (/səˈlɑn/ in IPA).

Here is “salon” used in a sentence: “She booked an appointment at the salon to get her hair cut before the wedding.”

“Salon” is a noun.

The word “salon” comes from French. From French salon, "reception room," ultimately from Italian sala, "hall." A doublet of "saloon," which took a more informal, American turn in meaning.

“Salon” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Salon” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a business offering beauty treatments such as hair styling, manicures, or skincare.

A salon is a business offering beauty treatments, or an elegant reception room or cultured gathering. A saloon is a different word, meaning a bar or public drinking place in American English, or a type of enclosed car in British English.

A salon focuses on beauty and grooming treatments such as hair styling, manicures, and skincare. A spa focuses more on relaxation and wellness, offering treatments like massage and hydrotherapy, though some venues combine both.

Historically, a salon was a large, elegant room for receiving guests. The word also names a gathering of people, often hosted in such a room, who met for cultured conversation about art, literature, and ideas.

Common types include a hair salon, a beauty salon, and a nail salon, all offering grooming or beauty treatments. In the older sense, a "literary salon" is a gathering for cultured discussion rather than a business.