saler

Forms

saler^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *salō (“to salt”), which replaced by a change of conjugation Latin saliō (“to salt”), derived from sāl (“salt”); compare the Latin past participle salātus (“salted”).^[2][1][3] Rey, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead derive it within French from sel, in its old form sal.^[4][5][6]

Cognate with Italian salare, Romanian săra, Catalan salar, Spanish salar and Portuguese salar.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Vie de saint Nicolas (about 1150) has it in the sense “to season with salt”; about the same time Floire et Blancheflor speaks of char salee, meat salted to keep it.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides seasoning and curing food, the verb was used from 1723 for salting hides before tanning, and more recently for spreading salt on roads.^[4][7] Figuratively it meant “to beat, maltreat” in the Roman de Renart (1174–1177), then “to scold sharply” (1810), and “to punish severely” (Zola, 1885).^[2][4] Another figure gave “to charge too much”: Saint-Julien de Balleure wrote in 1588 that people salerent si bien sa noblesse “made him pay so dearly for his nobility”;^[2][8] saler quelqu'un followed in 1819 and saler une note in 1866.^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Wace uses it for “to season with salt”.^[2]
• c. 1150 – Char salee, meat salted for keeping, appears in Floire et Blancheflor.^[2]
• 1174–1177 – The Roman de Renart uses it for “to beat”.^[2]
• 1588 – Saint-Julien de Balleure uses it for “to sell too dear”.^[2][8]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records saler les cuirs.^[7][4]
• 1810 – It means “to scold sharply”.^[2]
• 1866 – Delvau records saler une note.^[2]
• 1885 – Zola uses it for “to punish severely”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To season with salt: saler les pâtes.^[6][2]
2. To cure meat or fish with salt to preserve it: saler du porc.^[6][7]
3. (technical) Saler la chaussée: to spread salt on a road against snow and ice.^[6][7]
4. (familiar) To overcharge: saler la note, saler le client.^[6]
5. (familiar, dated) To punish severely.^[6][2]

Word family

• salé
• salage
• salaison
• saleur
• dessaler

Related words

• sel
• salière
• Latin sāl

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 79a
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette