Etymologically
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saline

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈseɪ.laɪn/[1]
  • US: /ˈseɪ.lin/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English salyne,[2][3] probably borrowed from Latin *salīnus,[4][3][5] a form found only in the neuter salīnum (“salt cellar”) and the feminine plural salīnae (“salt pits”),[3][6][7] from sāl (“salt”),[4][5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *sal- (“salt”).[6][5] The OED compares French salin (17th century), Spanish salino, Portuguese salino and Italian salino;[4] Anglo-Norman had salin (“salted”) from the early 15th century.[8] The noun, a salt pit or salt spring, is partly from the Latin plural salīnae.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Made of salt, a sense now obsolete, or of the nature of salt: about 1450, in the Mirour of Saluacioun.[4] Barnhart finds salyne, made of salt, before 1500,[3] and Etymonline dates it to about 1500.[6] The noun, a salt pit, is also recorded about 1450, in the Godstow Register,[4] though Etymonline dates it to the 13th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

From 1651 saline meant like salt, salty,[4] and since 1771, with the rise of chemistry, of or relating to chemical salts.[4][6] From 1774 it was used of medicines made from the salts of the alkali metals or magnesium,[4][2] and since 1789 of natural waters, springs and lakes containing salt.[4] The phrase saline solution is attested by 1753.[6] The noun saline for a saline purge is recorded from 1875,[4] and as a short form for physiological saline solution from 1926.[4][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – made of salt, or of the nature of salt; noun, a salt pit.[4]
  • 1651 – like salt, salty.[4]
  • 1771 – relating to chemical salts.[4][6]
  • 1774 – of medicines, based on the salts of alkali metals or magnesium.[4]
  • 1789 – of waters, containing salt.[4]
  • 1926 – noun, a physiological salt solution.[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Containing or consisting of salt; salty: a saline lake.[9][2][4]
  2. Relating to or like salt: a saline taste.[9][2]
  3. Relating to chemical salts, especially those of the alkali metals or magnesium.[9][2][4]

Noun

  1. In medicine, a solution of sodium chloride in water with the same concentration as body fluids, used for drips and rinsing.[9][4]
  2. A salt spring or a natural deposit of salt.[2][4]
  3. A laxative made from salts of the alkali metals or magnesium.[2][4]

Word family

  • salinity
  • desalinize
  • hypersaline
  • nonsaline
  • salinization
  • salinize
  • salinometer
  • semisaline

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins