salsus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsaɫ.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsal.sus]^[1]

Forms

salsus (feminine salsa, neuter salsum, adverb salsē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect participle of sallō “to salt”, from an earlier *saldō, with *sald-tos becoming *salssos.^[2][1] ⟨Sallō⟩ is from sāl “salt”.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of salted food, and Cato, of what is naturally salty.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC and Cato 234–149 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant salted, preserved or flavoured with salt, as in Plautus and Pliny's salsiōrēs cibī, and naturally salty, as in Cato.^[2][5] Of water it meant salt, briny, and poetically the sea, as in Varro.^[2] From Cicero it meant witty, funny, of speech and persons, salted with humour.^[2]

Its feminine or neuter plural salsa “salted things” passed through Old French sauce into English sauce in the mid-14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of salted food.^[2][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of what is salty.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of wit.^[2][4]
• mid-14th century – English sauce is recorded, from salsa.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Salted.^[2]
2. Salty; of water, briny.^[2]
3. Witty, funny.^[2]

Related words

• sāl
• sallō
• English sauce
• English salt

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.