Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Salt

Salt

,
Noun.
[AS.
sealt
; akin to OS. & OFries.
salt
, D.
zout
, G.
salz
, Icel., Sw., & Dan.
salt
, L.
sal
, Gr. [GREEK], Russ.
sole
, Ir. & Gael.
salann
, W.
halen
, of unknown origin. Cf.
Sal
,
Salad
,
Salary
,
Saline
,
Sauce
,
Sausage
.]
1.
The chloride of sodium, a substance used for seasoning food, for the preservation of meat, etc. It is found native in the earth, and is also produced, by evaporation and crystallization, from sea water and other water impregnated with saline particles.
2.
Hence, flavor; taste; savor; smack; seasoning.
Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen . . . we have some
salt
of our youth in us.
Shakespeare
3.
Hence, also, piquancy; wit; sense;
as, Attic
salt
.
4.
A dish for salt at table; a saltcellar.
I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver
salts
.
Pepys.
5.
A sailor; – usually qualified by old.
[Colloq.]
Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and gossiping, clusters of old
salts
.
Hawthorne.
6.
(Chem.)
The neutral compound formed by the union of an acid and a base;
thus, sulphuric acid and iron form the
salt
sulphate of iron or green vitriol
.
☞ Except in case of ammonium salts, accurately speaking, it is the acid radical which unites with the base or basic radical, with the elimination of hydrogen, of water, or of analogous compounds as side products. In the case of diacid and triacid bases, and of dibasic and tribasic acids, the mutual neutralization may vary in degree, producing respectively basic, neutral, or acid salts. See Phrases below.
7.
Fig.
: That which preserves from corruption or error; that which purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an allowance or deduction;
as, his statements must be taken with a grain of
salt
.
Ye are the
salt
of the earth.
Matt. v. 13.
8.
pl.
Any mineral salt used as an aperient or cathartic, especially Epsom salts, Rochelle salt, or Glauber’s salt.
9.
pl.
Marshes flooded by the tide.
[Prov. Eng.]
Above the salt
,
Below the salt
,
phrases which have survived the old custom, in the houses of people of rank, of placing a large saltcellar near the middle of a long table, the places above which were assigned to the guests of distinction, and those below to dependents, inferiors, and poor relations. See
Saltfoot
.

His fashion is not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in clothes. He never drinks
below the salt
.
B. Jonson.
Acid salt
(Chem.)
(a)
A salt derived from an acid which has several replaceable hydrogen atoms which are only partially exchanged for metallic atoms or basic radicals;
as, acid potassium sulphate is an
acid salt
.
(b)
A salt, whatever its constitution, which merely gives an acid reaction;
thus, copper sulphate, which is composed of a strong acid united with a weak base, is an
acid salt
in this sense, though theoretically it is a neutral salt
.
Alkaline salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt which gives an alkaline reaction, as sodium carbonate.
Amphid salt
(Old Chem.)
,
a salt of the oxy type, formerly regarded as composed of two oxides, an acid and a basic oxide.
[Obsolescent]
Basic salt
(Chem.)
(a)
A salt which contains more of the basic constituent than is required to neutralize the acid
.
(b)
An alkaline salt.
Binary salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt of the oxy type conveniently regarded as composed of two ingredients (analogously to a haloid salt), viz., a metal and an acid radical.
Double salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt regarded as formed by the union of two distinct salts, as common alum, potassium aluminium sulphate. See under
Double
.
Epsom salts
.
See in the Vocabulary.
Essential salt
(Old Chem.)
,
a salt obtained by crystallizing plant juices.
Ethereal salt
.
(Chem.)
See under
Ethereal
.
Glauber's salt
or
Glauber's salts
.
See in Vocabulary.
Haloid salt
(Chem.)
,
a simple salt of a halogen acid, as sodium chloride.
Microcosmic salt
.
(Chem.)
.
See under
Microcosmic
.
Neutral salt
.
(Chem.)
(a)
A salt in which the acid and base (in theory) neutralize each other
.
(b)
A salt which gives a neutral reaction.
Oxy salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt derived from an oxygen acid.
Per salt
(Old Chem.)
,
a salt supposed to be derived from a peroxide base or analogous compound.
[Obs.]
Permanent salt
,
a salt which undergoes no change on exposure to the air.
Proto salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt derived from a protoxide base or analogous compound.
Rochelle salt
.
See under
Rochelle
.
Salt of amber
(Old Chem.)
,
succinic acid.
Salt of colcothar
(Old Chem.)
,
green vitriol, or sulphate of iron.
Salt of hartshorn
.
(Old Chem.)
(a)
Sal ammoniac, or ammonium chloride
.
(b)
Ammonium carbonate. Cf.
Spirit of hartshorn
, under
Hartshorn
.
Salt of lemons
.
(Chem.)
See
Salt of sorrel
, below.
Salt of Saturn
(Old Chem.)
,
sugar of lead; lead acetate; – the alchemical name of lead being Saturn.
Salt of Seignette
.
Same as
Rochelle salt
.
Salt of soda
(Old Chem.)
,
sodium carbonate.
Salt of sorrel
(Old Chem.)
,
acid potassium oxalate, or potassium quadroxalate, used as a solvent for ink stains; – so called because found in the sorrel, or Oxalis. Also sometimes inaccurately called
salt of lemon
.
Salt of tartar
(Old Chem.)
,
potassium carbonate; – so called because formerly made by heating cream of tartar, or potassium tartrate.
[Obs.]
Salt of Venus
(Old Chem.)
,
blue vitriol; copper sulphate; – the alchemical name of copper being Venus.
Salt of wisdom
.
See
Alembroth
.
Sedative salt
(Old Med. Chem.)
,
boric acid.
Sesqui salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt derived from a sesquioxide base or analogous compound.
Spirit of salt
.
(Chem.)
See under
Spirit
.
Sulpho salt
(Chem.)
,
a salt analogous to an oxy salt, but containing sulphur in place of oxygen.

Salt

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Salter
;
sup
erl.
Saltest
.]
[AS.
sealt
,
salt
. See
Salt
,
Noun.
]
1.
Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted;
as,
salt
beef;
salt
water
.
Salt tears.”
Chaucer.
2.
Overflowed with, or growing in, salt water;
as, a
salt
marsh;
salt
grass
.
3.
Fig.
: Bitter; sharp; pungent.
I have a
salt
and sorry rheum offends me.
Shakespeare
4.
Fig.
: Salacious; lecherous; lustful.
Shak.
Salt acid
(Chem.)
,
hydrochloric acid.
Salt block
,
an apparatus for evaporating brine; a salt factory.
Knight.
Salt bottom
,
a flat piece of ground covered with saline efflorescences.
[Western U.S.]
Bartlett.
Salt cake
(Chem.)
,
the white caked mass, consisting of sodium sulphate, which is obtained as the product of the first stage in the manufacture of soda, according to Leblanc's process.
Salt fish
.
(a)
Salted fish, especially cod, haddock, and similar fishes that have been salted and dried for food.
(b)
A marine fish.
Salt garden
,
an arrangement for the natural evaporation of sea water for the production of salt, employing large shallow basins excavated near the seashore.
Salt gauge
,
an instrument used to test the strength of brine; a salimeter.
Salt horse
,
salted beef.
[Slang]
Salt junk
,
hard salt beef for use at sea.
[Slang]
Salt lick
.
See
Lick
,
Noun.
Salt marsh
,
grass land subject to the overflow of salt water.
Salt-marsh caterpillar
(Zool.)
,
an American bombycid moth (
Spilosoma acraea
which is very destructive to the salt-marsh grasses and to other crops. Called also
woolly bear
. See Illust. under
Moth
,
Pupa
, and
Woolly bear
, under
Woolly
.
Salt-marsh fleabane
(Bot.)
,
a strong-scented composite herb (
Pluchea camphorata
) with rayless purplish heads, growing in salt marshes.
Salt-marsh hen
(Zool.)
,
the clapper rail. See under
Rail
.
Salt-marsh terrapin
(Zool.)
,
the diamond-back.
Salt mine
,
a mine where rock salt is obtained.
Salt pan
.
(a)
A large pan used for making salt by evaporation; also, a shallow basin in the ground where salt water is evaporated by the heat of the sun.
(b)
pl.
Salt works.
Salt pit
,
a pit where salt is obtained or made.
Salt rising
,
a kind of yeast in which common salt is a principal ingredient.
[U.S.]
Salt raker
,
one who collects salt in natural salt ponds, or inclosures from the sea.
Salt sedative
(Chem.)
,
boracic acid.
[Obs.]
Salt spring
,
a spring of salt water.
Salt tree
(Bot.)
,
a small leguminous tree (
Halimodendron argenteum
) growing in the salt plains of the Caspian region and in Siberia.
Salt water
,
water impregnated with salt, as that of the ocean and of certain seas and lakes; sometimes, also, tears.

Mine eyes are full of tears, I can not see;
And yet
salt water
blinds them not so much
But they can see a sort of traitors here.
Shakespeare
Salt-water sailor
,
an ocean mariner.
Salt-water tailor
.
(Zool.)
See
Bluefish
.

Salt

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Salted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Salting
.]
1.
To sprinkle, impregnate, or season with salt; to preserve with salt or in brine; to supply with salt;
as, to
salt
fish, beef, or pork; to
salt
cattle
.
2.
To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.
To salt a mine
,
to artfully deposit minerals in a mine in order to deceive purchasers regarding its value.
[Cant]
To salt away
,
To salt down
,
to prepare with, or pack in, salt for preserving, as meat, eggs, etc.; hence, colloquially, to save, lay up, or invest sagely, as money.

Salt

,
Verb.
I.
To deposit salt as a saline solution;
as, the brine begins to
salt
.

Salt

,
Noun.
[L.
saltus
, fr.
salire
to leap.]
The act of leaping or jumping; a leap.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.

Webster 1828 Edition


Salt

SALT

,
Noun.
[Gr.; L. The radical sense is probably pungent, and if s is radical, the word belongs to the root of L. salio; but this is uncertain.]
1.
Common salt is the muriate of soda, a substance used for seasoning certain kinds of food, and for the preservation of meat, &c. It is found native in the earth, or it is produced by evaporation and crystallization from water impregnated with saline particles.
2.
In chimistry, a body compounded of an acid united to some base, which may be either an alkali, an earth, or a metallic oxyd. Accordingly, salts are alkaline, earthy, or metallic. Many compounds of this kind, of which common salt, (muriate of soda,) is the most distinguished, exist in nature; but most of these, together with many others not known in nature, have been formed by the artificial combination of their elements. Their entire number exceeds 2000. When the acid and base mutually saturate each other, so that the individual properties of each are lost, the compound is a neutral salt; when the acid predominates, it is a super salt; and when the base predominates, it is a sub salt. Thus we have a subcarbonate, a carbonate, and a supercarbonate of potash.
3.
Taste; sapor; smack.
We have some salt of our youth in us.
4.
Wit; poignancy; as Attic salt.

SALT

,
Adj.
1.
Having the taste of salt;impregnated with salt; as salt beef; salt water
2.
Abounding with salt; as a salt land. Jer. 17.
3.
Overflowed with salt water, or impregnated with it; as a salt marsh.
4.
Growing on salt marsh or meadows and having the taste of salt; as salt grass or hay.
5.
Producing salt water; as a salt spring.
6.
Lecherous; slacious.

SALT

,
Noun.
1.
The part of a river near the sea, where the water is salt.
2.
A vessel for holding salt.

SALT

, v.t.
1.
To sprinkle, impregnate or season with salt; as, to salt fish, beef or pork.
2.
To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.

SALT

,
Verb.
I.
To deposit salt from a saline substance; as, the brine begins to salt. [Used by manufacturers.]

SALT

,
Noun.
A leap; the act of jumping. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


salt

salt

See also: sålt and SALT

English

Noun

salt (plural salts)

  1. A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative.
    • c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., 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], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11:
      Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke [] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt []
  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.
  3. (uncommon) A salt marsh, a saline marsh at the shore of a sea.
  4. (slang) 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, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, chapter 1
      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.
  5. (cryptography) Randomly chosen bytes added to a plaintext message prior to encrypting it, in order to render brute-force decryption more difficult.
  6. A person who seeks employment at a company in order to (once employed by it) help unionize it.
  7. (obsolete) flavour; taste; seasoning
    • Shakespeare
      Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen [] we have some salt of our youth in us.
  8. (obsolete) piquancy; wit; sense
    Attic salt
  9. (obsolete) A dish for salt at table; a salt cellar.
    • Samuel Pepys
      I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver salts.
  10. (figuratively) That which preserves from corruption or error, or purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an allowance or deduction.
    His statements must be taken with a grain of salt.
    • Bible, Matthew v. 13
      Ye are the salt of the earth.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

salt (comparative more salt, superlative most salt)

  1. Salty; salted.
    salt beef;  salt tears
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Philander went into the next room [] and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.
  2. Saline.
    a salt marsh;  salt grass
  3. Related to salt deposits, excavation, processing or use.
    a salt mine
    The salt factory is a key connecting element in the seawater infrastructure.
  4. (figuratively, obsolete) Bitter; sharp; pungent.
  5. (figuratively, obsolete) Salacious; lecherous; lustful.
    • 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello Act III, Scene 3:
      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.

Translations

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To add salt to.
    to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt the city streets in the winter
  2. (intransitive) To deposit salt as a saline solution.
    The brine begins to salt.
  3. (mining) To blast gold into (as a portion of a mine) in order to cause to appear to be a productive seam.
  4. (cryptography) To add filler bytes before encrypting, in order to make brute-force decryption more resource-intensive.
  5. To include colorful language in.
  6. To insert or inject something into an object to give it properties it would not naturally have.
  7. (archaeology) To add bogus evidence to an archeological site.
  8. To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Catalan

Pronunciation

  • (Balearic) IPA(key): /ˈsalt/
  • (Central) IPA(key): /ˈsal/
  • (Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈsalt/

Etymology

From Latin saltus.

Noun

salt m (plural salts)

  1. jump

Related terms


Crimean Gothic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂l-.

Noun

salt

  1. salt
    • 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq:
      Salt. Sal.

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr (salt), from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /salt/, [salˀd̥]

Adjective

salt

  1. salty, salt
Inflection
Inflection of salt
Positive Comparative Superlative
Common singular salt saltere saltest2
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-, *séh₂ls. Compare Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish salt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /salt/, [salˀd̥]

Noun

salt n (singular definite saltet, plural indefinite salte)

  1. salt
Inflection

Etymology 3

Non-lemma forms.

Verb

salt

  1. imperativ of salte

Verb

salt

  1. imperativ of salte
Related terms

Faroese

salt

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [sal̥t]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.

Noun

salt n (genitive singular salts, plural sølt)

  1. salt
Declension
n5 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative salt saltið sølt søltini
Accusative salt saltið sølt søltini
Dative salti saltinum søltum søltunum
Genitive salts saltsins salta saltanna
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse saltr (salt), from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.

Adjective

salt

  1. salty
Declension
saltur a21
Singular (eintal) m (kallkyn) f (kvennkyn) n (hvørkikyn)
Nominative (hvørfall) saltur sølt salt
Accusative (hvønnfall) saltan salta
Dative (hvørjumfall) søltum saltari søltum
Genitive (hvørsfall) (salts) (saltar/
saltrar)
(salts)
Plural (fleirtal) m (kallkyn) f (kvennkyn) n (hvørkikyn)
Nominative (hvørfall) saltir saltar sølt
Accusative (hvønnfall) saltar
Dative (hvørjumfall) søltum
Genitive (hvørsfall) (salta
saltra)

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin saltus.

Noun

salt m (plural salts)

  1. jump, leap, spring

Related terms


Gothic

Romanization

salt

  1. Romanization of 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sal̥t/
  • Rhymes: -al̥t

Etymology

From Old Norse salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.

Noun

salt n (genitive singular salts, nominative plural sölt)

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

Declension

Derived terms

Adjective

salt

  1. positive neuter singular nominative or accusative of saltur

Latvian

Etymology

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

Verb

salt intr., 1st conj., pres. salstu, salsti, salst, past salu

  1. to freeze

Declension


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr.

Adjective

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

  1. 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-, *séh₂ls. Compare Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish salt.

Noun

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

  1. salt

Derived terms

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse saltr.

Adjective

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

  1. 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-, *séh₂ls.

Noun

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

  1. salt

Derived terms

References


Old Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse salt.

Noun

salt n

  1. salt

Descendants


Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *saltą (salt), *saltaz (salty, salted).

Noun

salt n

  1. salt

Declension

Descendants

  • North Frisian:
    Föhr-Amrum: saalt
  • West Frisian: sâlt

Adjective

salt

  1. salty, salted

Descendants

  • West Frisian: sâlt

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin saltus.

Noun

salt n (plural salturi)

  1. leap
  2. saltation

Declension

Related terms


Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish salter, from Old Norse saltr, from Proto-Germanic *saltaz, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂l-, *séh₂ls, *sáls.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /salt/

Adjective

salt (comparative saltare, superlative saltast)

  1. salty
Declension
Inflection of salt
Indefinite/attributive Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular salt saltare saltast
Neuter singular salt saltare saltast
Plural salta saltare saltast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 salte saltare saltaste
All salta saltare saltaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in an attributive role.

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish salt, 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-, *séh₂ls. Compare Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian salt.

Noun

salt n

  1. salt
    1. (uncountable) sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a condiment and preservative.
    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
Inflection of salt 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative salt saltet salter salterna
Genitive salts saltets salters salternas
Synonyms
Derived terms
  • bergsalt
  • havssalt
  • medelhavssalt
  • saltlake
  • saltkristall
  • saltstänkt
  • saltsyra
Related terms

Turkish

Adverb

salt

  1. (obsolete) exclusively

Synonyms