salary

American  

[sal-uh-ree] / ˈsæl ə ri /

noun

salaries plural

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

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salary British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to pay a salary to

Usage

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?

Synonym Usage

See pay ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• salaryless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• salaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of salary

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

Compare meaning

How does salary compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• stipend vs. salary

Explanation

The pay or wages you earn for doing your job is called your salary. You might prefer your low-paying job to one with a higher salary because you have so much fun with your co-workers. Salary comes from the Latin word salarium, which also means "salary" and has the root sal, or "salt." In ancient Rome, it specifically meant the amount of money allotted to a Roman soldier to buy salt, which was an expensive but essential commodity. Today, salt is an inexpensive purchase at the grocery store, and your salary is certainly to be paid in your country's currency.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

salary salaries

In the NHL, owners shut down an entire season to get a salary cap.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It said, for example, single parents with a disabled child could lose up to £340 per week in benefits if their child started an apprenticeship, exceeding the expected apprenticeship salary of £258 per week.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Then they must decide what to invest in and what share of their salary to contribute.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Other cost-cutting measures were also announced, such as deferring wage increases until 2035 and having senior executives forgo base salary increases in 2027 and 2028.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

They'd never had the benefits of a steady salary or paid vacation days.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

To be sure, top firms typically anchor standard entry-level packages between $350,000 and $500,000—but higher pay isn’t uncommon, and even the lowest salaries rise quickly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Australia's Suncorp Super Netball is where the top money is for now and, while salaries are veiled in secrecy, the cream of the crop there are reputedly nudging close to the six-figure mark.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Those funding bills for ICE did, however, pay these officers’ salaries.

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2026

While many workers focus on their salaries, achieving financial well-being requires another “cushion that income alone cannot provide” — it requires wealth, including savings, investments and other assets, according to the report.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

Others have begun to compare their salaries with those of men, and have found them to be less.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

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