salon

American  

[suh-lon, sa-lawn] / səˈlɒn, saˈlɔ̃ /

noun

salons plural

1. a drawing room or reception room in a large house.

2. an assembly of guests in such a room, especially an assembly, common during the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting of the leaders in society, art, politics, etc.

3. a hall or place used for the exhibition of works of art.

4. a shop, business, or department of a store offering a specific product or service related to fashion, hairdressing, or beauty.

   a bridal salon;

   a hair salon;

   a beauty salon.

5. (initial capital letter) (in France)

   1. the Salon, an annual exhibition of works of art by living artists, originally held at the Salon d'Apollon: it became, during the 19th century, the focal point of artistic controversy and was identified with academicism and official hostility to progress in art.

   2. a national exhibition of works of art by living artists.

      Salon des Refusés; Salon des Indépendants.

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salon British  

/ ˈsælɒn /

noun

1. a room in a large house in which guests are received

2. an assembly of guests in a fashionable household, esp a gathering of major literary, artistic, and political figures from the 17th to the early 20th centuries

3. a commercial establishment in which hairdressers, beauticians, etc, carry on their businesses

   beauty salon

4. 1. a hall for exhibiting works of art

   2. such an exhibition, esp one showing the work of living artists

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salon Cultural  

1. A periodic gathering of persons noted in literature, philosophy, the fine arts, or similar areas, held at one person's home. Salons thrived in the Enlightenment.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• salons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of salon

First recorded in 1705–15; from French, from Italian salone, equivalent to sal(a) “hall” (from Germanic; compare Old English sæl, Old Saxon seli, German Saal, Old Norse salr ) + -one augmentative suffix

Explanation

Use the noun salon when you talk about the place you get your hair cut. A salon is a good place to get a perm or highlights, to get your nails painted, or just to get a trim. A salon is like a barber shop, only fancier. Most salons offer all kinds of beauty treatments in addition to haircuts, like hair styling and coloring, facials, and massages. Another kind of salon is a formal living room — if you invited guests for tea, you might sit and sip it in your salon. The word salon is French, originally meaning "reception room." In 1800's France, the meaning grew to include a "gathering of elegant people" occurring regularly in such a room.

Example Sentences

Through a beauty therapy course in the Netherlands, an internship became paid work in a salon.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

Blackstone has invested more than $7 billion in 12 transactions over the past 24 months, including in Japanese engineering services provider TechnoPro and South Korean hair salon franchise JUNO.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

The Citroen 2CV, or "two horses" was first unveiled with fanfare on October 7, 1948 at the Paris auto salon.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

Vuong shared a memory about watching talk shows while working at his mom’s nail salon.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

Sizwe dragged me to a hair salon down the street.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

• gallery
• hall
• parlor
• room
• shop
• showroom