salmon

American  

[sam-uhn] / ˈsæm ən /

noun

salmons, plural salmon plural

1. a marine and freshwater food fish, Salmo salar, of the family Salmonidae, having pink flesh, inhabiting waters off the North Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America near the mouths of large rivers, which it enters to spawn.

2. landlocked salmon.

3. any of several salmonoid food fishes of the genus Oncorhynchus, inhabiting the North Pacific Ocean.

4. a light yellowish-pink.

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adjective

1. of the color salmon.

salmon British  

/ ˈsæmən /

noun

1. any soft-finned fish of the family Salmonidae, esp Salmo salar of the Atlantic and Oncorhynchus species (sockeye, Chinook, etc) of the Pacific, which are important food fishes. They occur in cold and temperate waters and many species migrate to fresh water to spawn

2. any of several unrelated fish, esp the Australian salmon

3. short for salmon pink

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• salmonlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• salmon
  plural
• salmons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of salmon

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English salmoun, samoun, from Anglo-French from Old French saumon, or directly from Latin salmōn-, stem of salmō

Explanation

A salmon is a big, silver-skinned fish that lives in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Many commercial fishermen catch salmon. Salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, and then return to the place they were born to spawn, or reproduce. Because they move from one place to another, salmon are famous for leaping over dams and against river tides — in fact, one theory about the word salmon says its Latin root is salire, or "to leap." There is also a color known as salmon, the pink-orange hue of a salmon's flesh.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

salmon salmons

Over a dinner featuring steaks, salmon and burrata salad, Graham toasted Scott Bessent—Trump’s Treasury secretary and a fellow South Carolinian, who traveled to Ankara on Air Force One with the president.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

"Many people hold onto the American dream, but given how tough things are getting, you can't be the salmon swimming against the current -- because you get tired, you burn out, it destroys you."

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

Jamie Stewart, from the River Tweed Commission, said: "Wild Atlantic salmon are already facing unprecedented pressures from climate change, habitat loss and poor marine survival."

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

There’s no way Clayton’s very seared salmon with watermelon radish can top a Jean-Georges chocolate mousse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

After a moment, a venerable salmon rippled up; Medwyn stroked the jaws of the huge fish.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Shotter said that salmon sperm “is harvested from salmons without harming them.”

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2024

As a result, the state has been trucking millions of salmons raised at hatcheries to the ocean each year, bypassing the perilous downstream journey.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2021

Well, but amongst these minnow- fishers there was one who fished with an air that made the minnows look larger than salmons.

From The Caxtons — Volume 07 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

A settlement of "fish-skin" Indians was visited in the dog search, and Meares told us of natives who dressed in cured skins of salmons.

From South with Scott by Mountevans, Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, baron

I like the salmons, and I dote on the fun and the fuss. 

From Hopes and Fears or, scenes from the life of a spinster by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

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