"S" Word Origins

Salford

Old English

From Old English sealh (“willow, sallow”) + ford (“ford”).

Salgado

Spanish

From Spanish Salgado, from Galician Salgado.

salicylic acid

Latin

From Latin salix, meaning willow, the tree from whose bark the related compound salicin was first obtained.

salience

Origin

From Latin saliēns, salientis (whence -ence), from saliō.

saliency

Origin

From salient + -cy.

salient

Latin

From Latin saliens, "leaping," from saliō, "to leap." The military and geographic sense of "jutting out" and the meaning "notable" both trace back to this image of something springing forward or standing out.

salientian

Origin

From Salientia + -an.

Salih

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic صَالِح (ṣāliḥ, literally “pious”).

Salinas

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Salinas, a metonymic occupational surname for a worker in a salt mine.

saline

Latin

From Latin salinus, "of salt," itself from sal, "salt" — the same root behind salt, salary, and salsa.

Salisbury

Middle English

From Middle English Saresbury, from Old English *Searesbyriġ, Searobyriġ, Searoburh, from searu (“armor”) via folk etymology + byriġ, burh (“stronghold”), partial translation of British Latin Sorviodūnum, Sorbiodōnum, from *sorwjo-, *sorbjo- of unknown Celtic origin, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”) (compare Proto-Celtic *srutom (“a stream”)) + Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold”). Dissimilation of -r- to -l- is the result of influence from Salesbury in Lancashire, from sealh (“willow”) + burh (“stronghold”). The naming of the village in New Brunswick is not entirely certain. It may be named after explorer John Salusbury (1707 - 1762) or after Salisbury in England. The civil parish in New Brunswick is named after the village. The former capital of Rhodesia was named after Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903) who served three times as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

saliva

Latin

From Latin saliva, "spit" — a word borrowed straight into English with its meaning intact.

salivate

Origin

From Latin salivatus, past participle of salivare (“to spit out, also salivate”), from saliva (“spittle”).

salle

French

Borrowed from French salle, "room" or "hall."

Sallie

Origin

A less common spelling of Sally; see -ie.

sallow

Origin

From Middle English salowe, from Old English salu, from Proto-West Germanic *salu, from Proto-Germanic *salwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *selH-. See also Dutch zaluw, dialectal German sal; also Irish salach (“dirty”), Welsh halog, Latin salīva, Russian соло́вый (solóvyj, “cream-colored”), and - through Frankish - French sale.

sally

Latin

From Old French saillir, "to leap out," from Latin salire, "to jump."

Salma

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic سَلْمَى (salmā).

salmagundi

Origin

From French salmigondis (“seasoned salt meats”), from Middle French salmigondin, probably related to Middle French salomene (“hodgepodge of meats or fish cooked in wine”), from Old French salemine.

Salman

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic سَلْمَان (salmān).

salmon

Latin

From Old French saumon, from Latin salmo. The silent "l" was added later by scholars trying to make the spelling look more Latin, the same trend that gave us the silent letters in "debt" and "receipt."

salmonella

Origin · 1800

Named after Daniel Elmer Salmon, the American scientist who first identified the bacteria in the late 1800s.

Salome

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Σαλώμη (Salṓmē), from Hebrew שְׁלוֹמִית (sh'lomít) (belonging to the same root as שָׁלוֹם (shalóm, “peace”)).

Salomon

Origin

Jewish, German, Dutch, Danish, Polish, French, Breton, Haitian, Mauritian, and Spanish (as Salomón) surname, all a variant of Solomon.

salon

French

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

saloon

Origin

From Occitan salon, French salon, either augmentative of salle (“room”), or borrowed from Italian salone (“hall”), augmentative form of sala, salla (“room”); in both cases borrowed from a Germanic source such as Old High German sal (“house, hall”), from Proto-Germanic *salą, from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“dwelling”). Doublet of salon.

salsa

Latin

From Spanish salsa, "sauce," from Latin salsus, "salted."

salt

Old English

From Old English sealt, tracing back to a very old Proto-Indo-European root for salt shared across most European languages — also the source of "salary" (Roman soldiers were once paid partly in salt).

salt of the earth

Hebrew and Greek, via the Bible

From the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:13, where Jesus tells his followers they are the salt of the earth. Salt was valued as a preservative and seasoning, so the phrase praised them as what keeps the world wholesome.

saltation

Origin

From Latin saltus (“to leap”).

salter

Origin

From "salt" plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally "one who works with salt."

saltie

Origin

From salt + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

Salts

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish זאַלץ (zalts, “salt”), a Jewish Ashkenazi metonymic occupational surname for a salt producer or seller.

saltwater

Origin

A straightforward compound of salt and water, used in English since the Middle Ages.

salty

Middle English

PIE word *sḗh₂l From Middle English salti, equivalent to salt + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian soaltig (“salty”), West Frisian sâltich (“salty”), Dutch zoutig (“salty”), German Low German soltig (“salty”), German salzig (“salty”). (coarse; irritated, annoyed): Referencing the sharp, 'spicy' flavor of salt. (indignant): Perhaps implying the person is a crybaby, shedding salty tears, or derived from the preceding.

salumi

Origin

Borrowed from Italian salumi.

salutary

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French salutaire and its source, Latin salutaris (“healthful”), from salus (“health”).

salutation

Latin

From Latin salutatio, "a greeting," from salutare, "to wish someone health."

salutations

Origin

The interjection is an application of the noun.

salutatorian

Origin

From salutatory + -an.

salute

Latin

From Latin salutare, "to wish well" or "to greet," from salus, "health, safety" — the same root as "salutation" and the toast "salud."

salvage

Latin

From Old French sauver, "to save," ultimately from Latin salvus, "safe" — with the ending "-age" added in English.

salvation

Latin

From Latin salvatio, "a saving," from salvare, "to save" — from salvus, "safe."

Salvatore

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Salvatore. Doublet of Salvador.

salve

Old English

From Old English sealf, "ointment," tracing back to a very old root meaning "to smear."

salver

Origin

From Middle English salver (attested only in the sense of "ointment box"), from Old English *sealfere (“salver, one who anoints”), equivalent to salve + -er. Cognate with Dutch zalver (“salver”), German Salber (“salver”).

salvo

Latin

From Latin salvo, as in the phrase salvo jure, "the right being reserved" — later reinterpreted in English as referring to a burst of gunfire.

salyut

Origin

From Russian Салют (Saljut), from салют (saljut, “salute; fireworks”). Doublet of salute.