sal
Etymology and origin of the Latin word sal
Pronunciation
Forms
sāl m or n (genitive salis); third declension[1] Ennius and Cato have a neuter nominative and accusative sale,[2][3] and the singular is sometimes neuter in later authors, but the plural sales is always masculine.[4][3]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sāls (“salt”), from inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l-s (“salt”).[2][1] De Vaan explains the long vowel of the nominative against the short one of the genitive salis as a trace of the PIE alternation, kept into Latin;[2] Wiktionary compares pār, paris and lār, laris.[1]
Cognate with Umbrian šalu (“salt”), Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls), Old Irish salann, Old Church Slavonic соль (solĭ) and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄 (salt).[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is found from Plautus on,[2][5] meaning common salt, as in a scene about sealing a salt-cellar with the salt still in it.[3]
Semantic evolution
Sharing salt was a symbol of hospitality and friendship: Cicero repeats the saying that many measures of salt must be eaten together before a friendship is complete.[3] The word also meant brine and, in poetry from Ennius on, the sea itself,[3] and Pliny the Elder used it for a flaw in precious stones.[3]
Figuratively sal was the quality that gives life or character to a person or thing,[3] and especially wit in speech; in the plural sales were jokes or witticisms.[3][4] Horace praises Lucilius for scouring the city with much salt.[3]
The word survives throughout Romance except Vegliote.[6] In most of the area it became feminine already in Proto-Romance, as in Romanian sare, while Sardinian keeps the old masculine.[6]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for salt and as a sign of hospitality.[3][5]
- 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for the sea.[3][5]
- 234–149 BC – Cato explains how to make white salt.[3][5]
- 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for a lively, witty quality.[3][5]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for wit in speech.[3][5]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes mountains of natural salt.[3][5]
Meanings
Noun
- salt;[3][4] (plural) lumps of salt.[3]
- Salt as a symbol of hospitality.[3]
- brine, salt water;[3] (poetic) the sea.[3]
- A flaw in precious stones.[3]
- (figurative) Liveliness, wit;[3][4] (plural) jokes, witticisms.[3][4]
Descendants
- Italian: sale[1]
- Portuguese: sal[1]
- Romanian: sare[1]
- Catalan: sal[1]
- Occitan: sal, sau[1]
- Galician: sal[1]
- Sardinian: sale[1]
- Romansh: sal, sel[1]
- Friulian: sâl[1]
- Aromanian: sari, sare[1]
- Old French: sel[1]
- Old Spanish: sal[1]
- Spanish: sal[1]
Word family
- salacaccabia
- salārius
- salifodīna
- salō
- salīnum
Related words
- English salt
- English salary
Usage notes
Kinds of salt had their own names: sal fossilis was rock salt, sal marinus sea salt and sal ammoniacus an impure salt found in Libya.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
Descendants
- English salary
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Sal.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sal. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on .