salt

See also: Appendix:Variations of "salt"

Languages (23)

Azerbaijani • Catalan • Crimean Gothic • Czech • Danish • Faroese • Friulian • Gothic • Icelandic • Latvian • Middle English • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Danish • Old Frisian • Old Norse • Old Swedish • Polish • Romanian • Swedish • Tagalog • Turkish

Page categories

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

salt

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂lder.

Proto-Germanic *saltą

Proto-West Germanic *salt

Old English sealt

Middle English salt

English salt

From Middle English salt, from Old English sealt, from Proto-West Germanic *salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l (“salt”). Doublet of sal, salary, and salsa, all ultimately from Latin sāl (“salt”), which it superseded as the general term for "salt".

Cognate with Dutch zout, German Salz, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish salt.

Pronunciation

(UK) enPR: sŏlt, sôlt, IPA^(key): /sɒlt/, /sɔːlt/
- Audio (UK); /sɔːlt/: (file)
- Audio (UK); /sɔːlt/: (file)
(US, no cot-caught merger) enPR: sôlt IPA^(key): /sɔlt/
(US, Canada, cot–caught merger) enPR: sält, IPA^(key): /sɑlt/, [sɑɫt], [sɑɫʔ]
- Audio (US, cot-caught merger): (file)
(New Zealand) enPR: sŏlt, IPA^(key): /sɔlt/, [sɔɯ̯t]
Rhymes: -ɒlt, -ɔːlt

Noun

salt (countable and uncountable, plural salts)

A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative.
Synonym: common salt

Near-synonyms: table salt, rock salt, road salt
- 1430, Thomas Austin, editor, Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 (Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91), volume 1, London: Routledge; N. Trübner & Co., published 1888, →OCLC, page 11:
  Take gode almaunde mylke y-draw wyth wyn, an let hem boyle to-gederys, an caste þer-to Safroun an Salt; […]
  Take good almond milk made with wine, and let it boil together, and add thereto Saffron and Salt; […]
- 1880, Arthur Herbert Church, Food: Some Account of Its Sources, Constituents and Uses‎^[1], London: Chapman and Hall, page 24:
  Common salt, chloride of sodium, appears to be essential to the life of the higher animals.
- 2013, Bear Grylls, True Grit: the Epic True Stories of Heroism and Survival That Have Shaped My Life, →ISBN, page 9:
  Nando was pierced with grief, but he didn't allow himself to cry. Tears, he knew, would cost his body salt. Without salt, you die.
- 2015 July 2, Michael Pearson, “6 things to know about hot dog king Joey Chestnut”, in CNN‎^[2], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 7 February 2026:
  Here’s a grocery list of foods Chestnut has eaten competitively, drawn from his Major League Eating bio: apple pie, asparagus, boysenberry pie, brats, burritos, chicken spiedies (a kind of sandwich), chicken wings, chili, corned beef sandwiches, eggs, fish tacos, funnel cake, grilled cheese sandwiches, gyoza, Krystal hamburgers, horseshoe sandwiches, hot dogs, ice cream, jalapeno poppers, kolaches, pastrami sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, pierogi, pizza, pork ribs, pulled pork, poutine, salt potatoes, shrimp, tacos, tamales, turkey and Twinkies.
(chemistry) One of the compounds formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, where a positive ion replaces a hydrogen of the acid.
(uncommon, countable) A salt marsh, a saline marsh at the shore of a sea.
(slang, countable) A sailor (also old salt).
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:
  Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and gossiping, clusters of old salts.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 1”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
  I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook.
(cryptography) A sequence of random data added to plain text data (such as passwords or messages) prior to encryption or hashing, in order to make brute force decryption more difficult.
A person who seeks employment at a company in order to (once employed by it) help unionize it.
(obsolete, uncountable) Flavour; taste; seasoning.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
  Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen […] we have some salt of our youth in us.
(obsolete, uncountable) Piquancy; wit; sense.
Attic salt
(obsolete, countable) A dish for salt at table; a salt cellar.
- 1664 September 19 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “September 9th, 1664”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC:
  I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver salts.
(historical, in the plural) Epsom salts or other salt used as a medicine.
(figurative, uncountable) Skepticism and common sense.
Any politician's statements must be taken with a grain of salt, but his need to be taken with a whole shaker of salt.
(Internet slang, uncountable) Tears; indignation; outrage; arguing.
There was so much salt in that thread about the poor casting decision.
(UK, historical, uncountable) The money demanded by Eton schoolboys during the montem.

Synonyms

sal (obsolete)

Derived terms

Compound words and expressions

Related terms

salary
salad

Descendants

Bislama: sol
Tok Pisin: sol
Māori: tote

Translations

See salt/translations § Noun.

Adjective

salt (comparative more salt, superlative most salt)

Of water: containing salt, saline.
Why the Sea is Salt
- 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 97:
  After a few days of north-west wind, the waters of the Gordon will be found salt for twelve miles up from the bar.
Treated with salt as a preservative; cured with salt, salted.
salt beef
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm.
Of land, fields etc.: flooded by the sea.
a salt marsh
Of plants: growing in the sea or on land flooded by the sea.
salt grass
Related to salt deposits, excavation, processing or use.
a salt mine

The salt factory is a key connecting element in the seawater infrastructure.
(figurative, obsolete) Bitter; sharp; pungent.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
  I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me […] .
(figurative, obsolete) Salacious; lecherous; lustful; (of animals) in heat.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
  It is impossible you should see this, / Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, / As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross / As ignorance made drunk.
- 1653, Thomas Urquhart, transl., The First Book of the works of Mr. Francis Rabelais‎^[3], Book 2, Chapter 22, p. 153:
  And when he saw that all the dogs were flocking about her, yarring at the retardment of their accesse to her, and every way keeping such a coyle with her, as they are wont to do about a proud or salt bitch, he forthwith departed […]
(colloquial, archaic) Costly; expensive.

Derived terms

Translations

salty

Aymara: jayuk'ara, jayuni
Azerbaijani: duzlu (az)
Catalan: salat (ca)
Czech: slaný (cs)
Danish: salt (da)
Dutch: zout (nl), zoutig (nl), gezouten (nl)
Estonian: soolane (et)
Faroese: saltur
Finnish: suolainen (fi)
French: salé (fr)
Galician: salgado (gl)
German: salzig (de)
Greek: αλμυρός (el) m (almyrós)
Hawaiian: pa’akai
Hungarian: sós (hu)
Icelandic: saltur
Italian: salato (it)
Kaitag: ччуму́с (ččumús)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: سوێر (swêr), خوێواو (xwêwaw)
Latvian: sāļš
Macedonian: солен (solen)
Māori: mātaitai, tote (mi)
Mon: ၜဵု (mnw), ဍာ်ပဏုင်
Mopan Maya: ch'ooch'
Norwegian:
Bokmål: salt (no), saltet

Nynorsk: salt, salta
Old English: sealt
Polish: słony (pl)
Portuguese: salgado (pt)
Punjabi: ਨਮਕੀਨ (namkīn)
Romanian: sărat (ro)
Russian: солёный (ru) (soljónyj)
Slovene: slan (sl)
Spanish: salado (es)
Swahili: chumvi (sw)
Swedish: salt (sv)
Tamil: உப்பாக (uppāka), உவர்ப்பு (ta) (uvarppu), உப்பு கரிக்க (uppu karikka)
Tausug: maasin

saline

Catalan: salí (ca)
Czech: solný (cs) m
Danish: saltholdig (da)
Dutch: zout (nl) n, zout- (nl) n
Estonian: soolane (et), soola-
Faroese: saltkendur
Finnish: suolainen (fi), suola- (fi)
French: salin (fr)
Galician: salino (gl)
Greek: αλατούχος (el) m (alatoúchos), αλατώδης (el) m (alatódis)
Italian: salino (it)
Macedonian: солен (solen)
Māori: kurutai, kurutaitai
Norwegian:
Bokmål: saltholdig (no)

Nynorsk: salthaldig
Polish: słony (pl)
Portuguese: salino (pt)
Russian: солево́й (ru) (solevój), соляно́й (ru) (soljanój)
Spanish: salino (es)
Swahili: chumvi (sw)
Swedish: salthaltig (sv)
Tamil: உப்பாக (uppāka), உவர்ப்பு (ta) (uvarppu)

related to salt deposits, excavation, processing or use

Catalan: salí (ca)
Finnish: suola-
Russian: солево́й (ru) (solevój), соляно́й (ru) (soljanój)
Spanish: salinero

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: ^{(please verify)} salzig (de)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} asin (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} salate
Old English: ^{(please verify)} sealt
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} sărat (ro) m, ^{(please verify)} sărată f
Slovak: ^{(please verify)} slaný (sk)
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} ఉప్పగా (uppagā), ^{(please verify)} ఉప్పటి (uppaṭi)

Verb

salt (third-person singular simple present salts, present participle salting, simple past and past participle salted)

(transitive) To add salt to.
Synonym: salt down

to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt the city streets in the winter
(intransitive) To deposit salt as a saline solution.
The brine begins to salt.
(nautical, of a ship) To fill with salt between the timbers and planks for the preservation of the timber.
To insert or inject something into an object to give it properties it would not naturally have.
1. (mining) To blast metal into (as a portion of a mine) in order to cause to appear to be a productive seam.
2. (archaeology) To add bogus evidence to an archaeological site.
3. (transitive) To add certain chemical elements to (a nuclear or conventional weapon) so that it generates more radiation.
  - 1964, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, page 417:
    The composition of the fallout can also be changed by "salting" the weapon to be detonated. This consists in the inclusion of significant quantities of certain elements, possibly enriched in specific isotopes, for the purpose of producing induced radioactivity. There are several reasons why a weapon might be salted.
(transitive) To sprinkle throughout.
They salted the document with arcane language.
- 1976 December 11, Ronnie Allen, “No Political Eunuch”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 4:
  The Libertarians wish we had won the Vietnamese War, they would like to revoke civil rights legislation, they believe (even though they are supposedly anti-state) in a stronger Pentagon. They are salted with Nixonites, Young Americans for Freedom, John Birchers, Reaganites — in other words the old Joe McCarthy gang again. I thought they had left us, or reformed, or taken up knitting.
- 1993, The Journal of Jewish Thought & Philosophy, page 154:
  These were pamphlets, often written in various Jewish vernaculars, describing the location of the Holy sites and salting the accounts with mythic and homiletical materials.
(cryptography) To add filler bytes before encrypting, in order to make brute-force decryption more resource-intensive.
To render a thing useless.
1. (military, transitive) To sow with salt (of land), symbolizing a curse on its re-inhabitation.
  In this place were put to the ground and salted the houses of José Mascarenhas.
2. (wiki jargon) To lock a page title so it cannot be created.
To seek employment at a company in order to help unionize it.
- 2026 June 2, Alex Skopic, Chris Smalls, “Chris Smalls Is Still Fighting the Bosses”, in Current Affairs‎^[4], archived from the original on 25 August 2026:
  And then there was a different faction of organizers who you call more like “professional activists” or “white leftists,” and they were maybe more privileged, maybe just joined the job to salt for the union.

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “add salt”): desalt

Derived terms

Translations

to add salt to

Arabic: مَلَّحَ (mallaḥa)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Aromanian: ãnsar, nsar
Azerbaijani: duzlamaq (az)
Belarusian: салі́ць impf (salícʹ), пасалі́ць pf (pasalícʹ)
Bulgarian: соля (bg) (solja)
Catalan: salar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 加鹽 / 加盐 (gaa¹ jim⁴), 落鹽 / 落盐 (lok⁶ jim⁴)

Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: solit (cs), osolit (cs)
Danish: salte (da)
Dutch: zouten (nl)
Esperanto: sali
Estonian: soolama
Faroese: salta
Finnish: suolata (fi)
French: saler (fr)
Friulian: salâ
Galician: salgar (gl), salpresar
Georgian: დამარილება (damarileba)
German: salzen (de)
Bavarian: sålzn, soizn
Greek: αλατίζω (el) (alatízo)
Ancient Greek: ἁλίζω (halízō)
Hebrew: המליח (he) (himlíakh)
Hungarian: sóz (hu)
Icelandic: salta (is)
Ido: salizar (io)
Ingrian: soolata
Irish: saill, cuir salann ar
Italian: salare (it)
Japanese: 塩漬けにする (shio-zuke ni suru)
Kazakh: тұздау (tuzdaw)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Kyrgyz: туздоо (ky) (tuzdoo)
Latin: salio
Latvian: sālīt
Lithuanian: sūdyti, pasūdyti
Macedonian: соли (soli), посоли (posoli), засоли (zasoli)
Māori: tote (mi), whakatote
Norman: saler (Jersey)
Norwegian: salte (no)
Occitan: salar (oc)
Old English: sieltan
Papiamentu: sala
Piedmontese: salé
Polish: solić (pl), posolić (pl)
Portuguese: salgar (pt)
Romanian: săra (ro)
Romansh: ensalar, ansalar, saler, insaler, salar
Russian: соли́ть (ru) impf (solítʹ), посоли́ть (ru) pf (posolítʹ)
Sardinian: salire, saliri
Scottish Gaelic: (for preservation) saill
Sicilian: salari
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Slovene: soliti
Spanish: salar (es)
Swahili: chumvi (sw)
Swedish: salta (sv)
Tamil: உப்பு சேர் (uppu cēr), உப்பிடு (uppiṭu)
Turkish: tuzlamak (tr)
Walloon: please add this translation if you can
Welsh: halltu (cy), dodi halen ar
Yiddish: זאַלצן (zaltsn)
Zazaki: solnaene

to add something into an object

Finnish: terästää (fi)

to include colorful language

Danish: krydre (da)
Dutch: kleuren (nl)
Finnish: maustaa (fi), höystää (fi)
French: épicer (fr)
Swedish: krydda (sv)

to add filler bytes before encryption

Finnish: suolata (fi)
Swahili: chumvi (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Old English: ^{(please verify)} sealtan, ^{(please verify)} sieltan
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} солити, ^{(please verify)} посолити

Latin: ^{(please verify)} soliti (sh), ^{(please verify)} posoliti (sh)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sel-

Proto-Indo-European *-yétor

Proto-Indo-European *sl̥yétor

Proto-Italic *saljō?

Latin saliō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin saltusbor.

English salt

Borrowed from Latin saltus.

Noun

salt (plural salts)

(obsolete) A bounding; a leaping; a prance.
- 1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass, in Gifford’s 1816 edition volume V page 67
  […] he hath the skill to draw
  Their nectar forth, with kissing; and could make
  More wanton salts from this brave promontory,
  Down to this valley, than the nimble roe;

Anagrams

Alts, LTAs, TLAs, alts, last, lats, slat

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Compare Turkish salt.

Adjective

salt

(Dmanisi) single, sole, the only
Synonyms: tək, tənha

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan salt, from Latin saltus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Northern, Central, Northwestern) [ˈsal]
IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsalt]
Audio (Catalonia): (file)

Noun

salt m (plural salts)

Derived terms

Related terms

saltar

References

Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “salt”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “salt”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Crimean Gothic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂l-. Compare Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish salt, Dutch zout, and German Salz.

Noun

salt

salt
- 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq:
  Salt. Sal.

Czech

Noun

salt

genitive plural of salto

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr (“salt”)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /salˀd/, [sælˀd̥], [sælˀt]

Adjective

salt (plural and definite singular attributive salte)

salty, salt

Inflection

Inflection of *salt*
	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	salt	saltere	saltest²
indefinite neuter singular	salt	saltere	saltest²
plural	salte	saltere	saltest²
definite attributive¹	salte	saltere	salteste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l. Compare Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish salt.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /salˀt/, [sæ̝lˀt]

Noun

salt n (singular definite saltet, plural indefinite salte)

salt

Inflection

Declension of *salt*
neuter gender	singular		plural
neuter gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	salt	saltet	salte	saltene
genitive	salts	saltets	saltes	saltenes

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

salt

imperative of salte

Related terms

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [sal̥t]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l, *sáls.

Noun

salt n (genitive singular salts, plural sølt)

salt

Declension

n5	singular		plural
n5	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	salt	saltið	sølt	søltini
accusative	salt	saltið	sølt	søltini
dative	salti	saltinum	søltum	søltunum
genitive	salts	saltsins	salta	saltanna

Etymology 2

From Old Norse saltr (“salt”), from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l, *sáls.

Adjective

salt

salty

Declension

Declension of *salt* (a21)
singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	saltur	sølt	salt
accusative	saltan	salta	salt
dative	søltum	saltari	søltum
genitive	salts	saltar saltrar	salts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	saltir	saltar	sølt
accusative	saltar	saltar	sølt
dative	søltum	søltum	søltum
genitive	salta saltra	salta saltra	salta saltra

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin saltus.

Noun

salt m (plural salts)

jump, leap, spring

Related terms

saltâ

Gothic

Romanization

salt

romanization of 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l, *sáls.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈsal̥t]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -al̥t

Noun

salt n (genitive singular salts, nominative plural sölt)

salt
Geturðu rétt mér saltið?
Can you pass me the salt?

Declension

Declension of *salt* (neuter)
	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	salt	saltið	sölt	söltin
accusative	salt	saltið	sölt	söltin
dative	salti	saltinu	söltum	söltunum
genitive	salts	saltsins	salta	saltanna

Derived terms

Adjective

salt

positive degree neuter singular nominative/accusative of saltur

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“cold; hot”). Cognates include Lithuanian šálti.

Pronunciation

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Verb

salt (intransitive, 1st conjugation, present salstu, salsti, salst, past salu)

to freeze

Conjugation

Conjugation of **salt** (1st)
	indicative (īstenības izteiksme)					imperative (pavēles izteiksme)
		present (tagadne)	past (pagātne)		future (nākotne)	imperative (pavēles izteiksme)
1st person sg	es	salstu	salu		salšu	—
2nd person sg	tu	salsti	sali		salsi	salsti
3rd person sg	viņš, viņa	salst	sala		sals	lai salst
1st person pl	mēs	salstam	salām		salsim	salsim
2nd person pl	jūs	salstat	salāt		salsiet, salsit	salstiet
3rd person pl	viņi, viņas	salst	sala		sals	lai salst

renarrative (atstāstījuma izteiksme)				participles (divdabji)
present	salstot			present active 1 (adj.)		salstošs
past	esot salis			present active 2 (adv.)		saldams
future	salšot			present active 3 (adv.)		salstot
imperative	lai salstot			present active 4 (obj.)		salstam
conditional (vēlējuma izteiksme)				past active		salis
present	saltu			present passive		salstams
past	būtu salis			past passive		salts
debitive (vajadzības izteiksme)				nominal forms
indicative	(būt) jāsalst			infinitive (nenoteiksme)		salt
conjunctive 1	esot jāsalst			negative infinitive		nesalt
conjunctive 2	jāsalstot			verbal noun		salšana

Middle English

Alternative forms

salte, saulte, sawt
sealt (Early Middle English); sallt (Ormulum)
selt (East Saxon); zalt (Kent)

Etymology

From Old English sealt, from Proto-West Germanic *salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą (noun) and Proto-Germanic *saltaz (adjective).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /salt/
(Kent) IPA^(key): /zalt/
(late) IPA^(key): /sau̯lt/

Noun

salt (uncountable)

salt (sodium chloride)
Something containing or for storing salt
Any of a group of crystalline compounds that resemble salt

Related terms

Descendants

English: salt
Scots: sawt, salt, saut
Yola: zall, zalt

References

“salt, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 8 April 2018.

Adjective

salt (plural and weak singular salte, comparative salter, superlative saltest)

salty, tasting of salt
Synonym: salty (Late Middle English)
salted, coated in salt

Descendants

English: salt
Scots: sawt, salt, saut

References

“salt, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 8 April 2018.

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

salt

Wikipedia ^no

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sɑlt/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr.

Adjective

salt (neuter singular salt, definite singular and plural salte, comparative saltere, indefinite superlative saltest, definite superlative salteste)

salty, salt, salted
salte peanøtter ― salted peanuts

Etymology 2

From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l. Compare Danish, Swedish and Icelandic salt.

Noun

salt n (definite singular saltet, indefinite plural salter, definite plural salta or saltene)

salt

Etymology 3

Verb

salt

imperative of salte

Derived terms

References

“salt” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

salt

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sɑlt/
(Trøndelag) IPA^(key): /saʎc/ (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr.

Adjective

salt (neuter singular salt, definite singular and plural salte, comparative saltare, indefinite superlative saltast, definite superlative saltaste)

salty, salt, salted

Etymology 2

From Old Norse salt (akin to Old Saxon salt, Old High German salz, Old Dutch salt, Old English sealt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l.

Noun

salt n (definite singular saltet, indefinite plural salt, definite plural salta)

salt
Synonym: (Rodi) lånn

Derived terms

References

“salt” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse salt.

Noun

salt n

salt

Descendants

Danish: salt

Etymology 2

From Old Norse saltr.

Adjective

salt

salty, salt

Descendants

Danish: salt

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *salt (“salt”)

Noun

salt n

salt

Inflection

Declension of **salt** (neuter a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	salt	salt
accusative	salt	salt
genitive	saltes	salta
dative	salte	saltum, saltem

Descendants

North Frisian:
Föhr-Amrum: saalt

Mooring: sålt

Sylt: Saalt
Saterland Frisian: Soalt, Saalt (Skäddel, Strukelje)
West Frisian: sâlt

Adjective

salt

salty, salted

Descendants

West Frisian: sâlt

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *saltą.

Noun

salt n

salt

Declension

Declension of *salt* (strong a-stem)
neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	salt	saltit	sǫlt	sǫltin
accusative	salt	saltit	sǫlt	sǫltin
dative	salti	saltinu	sǫltum	sǫltunum
genitive	salts	saltsins	salta	saltanna

Related terms

salta (“to salt”)
saltr (“salty”)

Descendants

Icelandic: salt
Faroese: salt
Norn: salt
Norwegian Nynorsk: salt
Norwegian Bokmål: salt
Old Swedish: salt
- Swedish: salt
Old Danish: salt
- Danish: salt

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

salt

strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of saltr (“salty”)

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse salt.

Noun

salt n

salt

Declension

Declension of *salt* (strong a-stem)
neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	salt	saltit	salt	saltin
accusative	salt	saltit	salt	saltin
dative	salti, salte	saltinu, salteno	saltum, saltom	saltumin, saltomen
genitive	salts	saltsins	salta	saltanna

Descendants

Swedish: salt c

Polish

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsalt/
Rhymes: -alt
Syllabification: salt

Noun

salt n

genitive plural of salto

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sel-

Proto-Indo-European *-yétor

Proto-Indo-European *sl̥yétor

Proto-Italic *saljō?

Latin saliō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin saltus

Romanian salt

Inherited from Latin saltus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsalt/

Noun

salt n (plural salturi)

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	salt	saltul	salturi	salturile
genitive-dative	salt	saltului	salturi	salturilor
vocative	saltule		salturilor

Related terms

Verb

salt

first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of sălta

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

salt

Wikipedia ^sv

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /salt/
Audio: (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish salter, from Old Norse saltr, from Proto-Germanic *saltaz, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l, *sáls.

Adjective

salt (comparative saltare, superlative saltast)

salty
Antonym: (of water) söt

Soppan är för salt.
The soup is too salty.
- 2000, 1973 års bibelkommission [The Swedish Bible Commission of 1973], “Markusevangeliet [Mark] 9:50”, in Bibel 2000‎^[5], © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 4 August 2026:
  Men om saltet förlorar sin sälta, hur skall ni få det salt igen?
  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?

Declension

Inflection of **salt**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	salt	saltare	saltast
neuter singular	salt	saltare	saltast
plural	salta	saltare	saltast
masculine plural²	salte	saltare	saltast

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	salte	saltare	saltaste
all	salta	saltare	saltaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish salt, from Old Norse salt (akin to Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄 (salt), Old English sealt, Old High German salz, Old Saxon salt), from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *sḗh₂l. Cognate with Danish, Icelandic, and Norwegian salt.

Noun

salt n

salt
1. (uncountable) sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative.
  Synonyms: koksalt, (table salt) bordssalt
  
  salt och peppar
  salt and pepper
  - 2000, 1973 års bibelkommission [The Swedish Bible Commission of 1973], “Markusevangeliet [Mark] 9:50”, in Bibel 2000‎^[6], © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 4 August 2026:
    Men om saltet förlorar sin sälta, hur skall ni få det salt igen?
    But if the salt loses its saltiness, how will you make it salty again?
2. (chemistry) One of the compounds formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, where a positive ion replaces a hydrogen of the acid.

Declension

Declension of **salt**
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	salt	salts
singular	definite	saltet	saltets
plural	indefinite	salter	salters
plural	definite	salterna	salternas

Derived terms

Related terms

salta
sälta

References

“salt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
salt in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Anagrams

last, lats, stal, tals

Tagalog

Etymology

Semantic loan from English as in, via an unadapted borrowing from English salt, which is a calque of Tagalog asin, due to homophony with English as in.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsolt/ [ˈsolt̪]
Rhymes: -olt
Syllabification: salt

Interjection

salt (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜓᜎ᜔ᜆ᜔) (slang, dated)

mild intensifier: literally
Ang init ng araw, salt pare!
The sun is so hot, as in [HOT] bro!

Usage notes

Usually used by younger generations, such as millennials and Gen Z, belonging to upper social classes, such as those proficient in both Taglish and Conyo, especially around Metro Manila.

Turkish

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Turkic *sal- (“to unleash”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /saɫt/

Adverb

salt

exclusively, only, just, absolute
salt çoğunluk
absolute majority

Synonyms

bir
sadece
sırf
tek
yalnız
(absolute) mutlak

Related terms

salmak

Descendants

→ Armenian: սալթ (saltʻ)

Basic tastes in Danish (layout · text)

sød	sur	salt	bitter	stærk	umami