salary

[sal-uh-ree]

noun

plural

salaries 

1. a fixed compensation periodically paid to a person for regular work or services.

salary

/ ˈsælərɪ /

noun

1. a fixed regular payment made by an employer, often monthly, for professional or office work as opposed to manual work Compare wage

verb

1. (tr) to pay a salary to

Other Word Forms

• salaryless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of salary¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English salarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin salārium “money given to soldiers to buy salt, salt money.” See sal, -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of salary¹

C14: from Anglo-Norman salarie, from Latin salārium the sum given to Roman soldiers to buy salt, from sal salt

Synonym Study

See pay ¹.

Example Sentences

Former staff say salaries were competitive, the company allowed remote working, and their response to the Covid-19 pandemic was good.

Read more on BBC

The calls for a salary cap are nothing more than justifications by cheap owners for their refusal to invest in the civic institutions under their control.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Business leaders who play along with Beijing call to mind author Upton Sinclair’s observation that “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Raising the salaries of nearly half of its more than a million U.S. hourly workers made it the biggest pay raise in history.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Workers get higher salaries, some of which they can send home to support families.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• earnings 
• fee 
• income 
• pay 
• payroll 
• stipend 
• wage 

When To Use

What is a salary?

A salary is a fixed, regular payment in exchange for work. This is different from earning a fee that depends on how many hours you work (earning a fixed rate per hour) or how much work you do, sometimes called piecework.When you earn a salary, it is usually stated as the amount of money you will receive in one year for doing the work (before any taxes are paid). You will then be paid in equal amounts each pay period over the course of that year, even when you are on a paid vacation. How often you are paid will vary from company to company, with every other week and twice a month being most common.To salary someone is to pay them a salary. A salaried employee is someone who is paid a salary instead of paid another way, such as paid by the hour.Example: How can they expect me to live my best life when I’m paid on such a low salary?