Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at salt1, -ed3
Related formsun·salt·ed, adjectivewell-salt·ed, adjective
salt
1
[sawlt]
noun
a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named: garlic salt; celery salt.
Chemistry. any of a class of compounds formed by the replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms of an acid with elements or groups, which are composed of anions and cations, and which usually ionize in solution; a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.
salts,any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.
an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency: Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.
wit; pungency.
a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.
Informal. a sailor, especially an old or experienced one: He's an old salt who'll be happy to tell you about his years at sea.
verb (used with object)
to season with salt.
to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.
to furnish with salt: to salt cattle.
to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.
to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice: The highway department salted the roads after the storm.
to introduce rich ore or other valuable matter fraudulently into (a mine, the ground, a mineral sample, etc.) to create a false impression of value.
to add interest or excitement to: a novel salted with witty dialogue.
adjective
containing salt; having the taste of salt: salt water.
cured or preserved with salt: salt cod.
inundated by or growing in salt water: salt marsh.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.
pungent or sharp: salt speech.
Verb Phrases
salt away,
Also salt down.to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.
Informal.to keep in reserve; store away; save: to salt away most of one's earnings.
salt out, to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.
Idioms
rub salt in/into someone's wounds, to make someone's bad situation even worse.
with a grain/pinch of salt, with reserve or allowance; with an attitude of skepticism: Diplomats took the reports of an impending crisis with a grain of salt.
worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary: We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.
Origin of salt
1
before 900; (noun and adj.) Middle English;Old Englishsealt; cognate with GermanSalz,Old Norse,Gothicsalt; akin to Latinsāl,Greekháls (see halo-); (v.) Middle Englishsalten,Old Englishs(e)altan; compare Old High Germansalzan,Old Norsesalta,Dutchzouten; see salary
a white powder or colourless crystalline solid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and used for seasoning and preserving food
(modifier)preserved in, flooded with, containing, or growing in salt or salty watersalt pork; salt marshes
chemany of a class of usually crystalline solid compounds that are formed from, or can be regarded as formed from, an acid and a base by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms in the acid molecules by positive ions from the base
liveliness or pungencyhis wit added salt to the discussion
Old English sealt "salt" (n.; also as an adjective, "salty, briny"), from Proto-Germanic *saltom (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Gothic salt, Dutch zout, German Salz), from PIE *sal- "salt" (cf. Greek hals "salt, sea," Latin sal, Old Church Slavonic soli, Old Irish salann, Welsh halen "salt").
Modern chemistry sense is from 1790. Meaning "experienced sailor" is first attested 1840, in reference to the salinity of the sea. Salt was long regarded as having power to repel spiritual and magical evil. Many metaphoric uses reflect that this was once a rare and important resource, e.g. worth one's salt (1830), salt of the earth (Old English, after Matt. v:13). Belief that spilling salt brings bad luck is attested from 16c. To be above (or below) the salt (1590s) refers to customs of seating at a long table according to rank or honor, and placing a large salt-cellar in the middle of the dining table.
Salt-lick first recorded 1751; salt-marsh is Old English sealtne mersc; salt-shaker is from 1882. Salt-and-pepper "of dark and light color" first recorded 1915. To take something with a grain of salt is from 1640s, from Modern Latin cum grano salis.
SALT
n.
Cold War U.S.-U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons negotiations, 1968, acronym for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (which would make SALT talks redundant, but the last element sometimes also is understood as treaty).
salt
v.
Old English sealtan, from Proto-Germanic *salto- (see salt (n.)), and in part from the noun. Related: Salted; salting.
Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased. See more at complex saltdouble saltsimple salt.
A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.
