salmon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsæmən/ (UK); /ˈsæmən/, /ˈsælmən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English samoun, salmon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman samoun (“salmon”), Old French salmun, saumon,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin salmō (“salmon”), salmōnem,^[2][3] of uncertain origin, probably originally a leaper, from salīre, to leap (see salient),^[3][2] though some dismiss this as folk etymology, and another theory traces it to Celtic.^[3] The classical -l- was restored in English from the 16th century.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The North Atlantic salmon: 1228 in Barnhart, the early 13th century in Etymonline; earlier as the surname Salmun (1205).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It replaced Old English læx, the more usual Indo-European word for the fish (see lox).^[3] Thompson notes that the salmon does not enter the Mediterranean and is mentioned by no Greek author and only two Latin ones, Pliny and Ausonius.^[3] Other fish of the family, and in Australia unrelated fish, are also called salmon.^[6][7] As a colour, yellowish pink, it is by 1786.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1205 – the surname Salmun.^[2]
• 1228 – a salmon.^[2]
• 1786 – salmon colour.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various large food and game fishes of northern waters, with pink flesh, that swim from the sea into fresh water to spawn.
2. (Australia) Any of several unrelated fishes, such as the Australian salmon.
3. A yellowish-pink or orange-pink colour.

Word family

• salmonlike
• salmonoid
• king-of-the-salmon
• salmonid
• Chinook salmon
• jack salmon
• landlocked salmon
• white salmon

Related words

• samlet
• lox
• salient

Usage notes

Salmon is also used in old oaths, by the salmon, of unknown origin (16th–19th centuries).^[6][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press