salver
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of salver
1655–65; < Spanish salv ( a ) kind of tray (originally protective foretasting, derivative of salvar to save < Latin salvāre ) + -er 1
Explanation
A salver is a fancy serving tray that's usually made of silver. If the Queen of England is dropping by for lunch, you might want to set the table with your best salvers! While salvers are sometimes made of another metal (or even glass), they're mainly silver trays used in special circumstances. Years ago, servants would serve food using a salver, or collect glasses and carry them away on a salver. If you were a wealthy person sitting at your writing desk, a maid or butler might even have brought your mail on a salver. The word comes from the French salve, "tray for presenting objects to the king."
Vocabulary lists containing salver
The Importance of Being Earnest
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Woad finished in a share of 10th place at last year's Women's Open at St Andrews to win the Smyth Salver, the prize for the best amateur performance.
From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025
England's Lottie Woad won the Smyth Salver as low amateur, birdieing the last to finish on one under.
From BBC • Aug. 25, 2024
Salver, sal′vėr, n. a plate on which anything is presented.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
The Domestic brought me a letter upon a Silver Salver.
From On Nothing and Kindred Subjects by Belloc, Hilaire
She was carried into the shop of Messrs. Salver and Tankard, the well-known silversmiths, and it was at first thought she had broken her right leg.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 12th 1893 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
