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

Norwegian salmon producer Mowi was hit in 2016 after warm water in Chilean fjords caused algal blooms that asphyxiated millions of fish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

One popular order is the Diaspora Delight with blackened salmon and jollof rice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Those still open tend to have generators, menus priced in dollars and a clientele of well-connected Cubans, decked in salmon shirts and tassel loafers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

"The incident could have serious consequences for the river's salmon and sea trout populations for many years to come," added the club.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Some see rose and magenta, and others see coral and salmon.

From "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson

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

There is a river in Macedon; and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth; . . . and there is salmons in both.

From Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature by John Bartlett

The present which they sent for his kitchen, and was laid upon the pavement in the hall, 359 was this:—four great whole sturgeons, two great fresh salmons, one calf, two sheep, two lambs.

From A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. by Charles Morton

He was taken, however, by Thor, who caught him by the tail, and compressed it so, that all salmons ever since have had that part remarkably thin.

From The Student's Mythology A Compendium of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Hindoo, Chinese, Thibetian, Scandinavian, Celtic, Aztec, and Peruvian Mythologies by Catherine Ann White

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