sal

Clipping of English Salishan.

sal

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Salishan languages.

From Middle English sal, from Latin sal. Doublet of salt.

• IPA^(key): /sæl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

sal (uncountable)

1. (chemistry, obsolete) Salt.

Was used predominantly to form the names of various chemical compounds.

From Hindi साल (sāl), from Sanskrit शाल (śāla).

• shaal, shala, saul

• IPA^(key): /sɑːl/

sal (plural sals)

1. Shorea robusta, a dipterocarpaceous tree.
   • 1989, Thomas Weber, Hugging the trees: the story of the Chipko movement, page 18:

     As the sals were cut in the lower foothill districts the loggers looked towards the mountains in their search for other hardwood timber.

• sal sac

Coined by Eduard Suess in 1909, in Das Antlitz der Erde, as a blend of translingual Si (silicon) +‎ Al (aluminum).^[1]

• Sal

sal (uncountable)

1. (geology) Alternative form of sial.
   • 1923 March, G. Vibert Douglas, A.V. Douglas, “Note on the Interpretation of the Wegener Frequency Curve”, in Geological Magazine‎^[3], volume 60, number 3, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, page 108:

     Wegener bases his theory of the drifting continents on the assumption that there are two distinct levels to be taken into account, the surface of the masses of "sal" which form the continents and the surface of the "sima" in which they float.

• ALS, ALs, ASL, LAs, LSA, SLA, a/s/l, al's, als, asl, las

From Dutch zal, singular of zullen, from Middle Dutch sullen, from Old Dutch *sulan, from Proto-West Germanic *skulan, from Proto-Germanic *skulaną.

• IPA^(key): /sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

sal (present sal, past sou)

1. shall, will

From Latin sal.

sal f

1. salt

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002), “sal”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

From Latin salem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal/ [ˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sal

sal m (plural sales)

1. salt

• IPA^(key): [sɑɫ]

• Audio:

  (file)

From Proto-Turkic *sāl.

sal (definite accusative salı, plural sallar)

2. raft (wooden)

Likely from Proto-Turkic *sal- (“throw, lower, put; heavy”); see Azerbaijani salmaq.

sal (definite accusative salı, plural sallar)

2. monolith (a large, single block of stone)

sal (comparative daha sal, superlative ən sal)

1. whole, unbroken, of one piece

sal

1. second-person singular imperative of salmaq

Borrowed from Persian سال.

sal (definite accusative salı, plural sallar)

1. (Classical Azerbaijani) year

   Synonyms: il, sənə, am

• “sal” in Obastan.com.

Inherited from Old Catalan sal, from Latin sāl.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsal]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

sal f (plural sals)

1. salt

• salar

• “sal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “sal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “sal”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

sal

1. sun

• W. McCulloch, Account of the Valley of Munnipore and of the Hill tribes with a comparative vocabulary of the Munnipore and other languages (1859, Calcutta: Bengal Printing Company)

Inherited from Spanish sal (“salt”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal/, [ˈsal]

sal

1. salt

From Old Norse salr, from Proto-Germanic *saliz, cognate with German Saal, Dutch zaal. The Germanic word was borrowed to French salon.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsæˀl]

sal c (singular definite salen, plural indefinite sale)

1. hall, room
2. floor (storey of a building)

   Synonym: etage

• retssal

• “sal” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “sal” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

• IPA^(key): /sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sal

sal

1. (text messaging) abbreviation of saluton (“hello”)

• “sal”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese sal, from Latin salem. Compare Portuguese sal.

• IPA^(key): [s̺al]

sal m (plural sales)

1. salt

   No camiño me colleno co'aquelas pedras de sal que o sol fixo de agua doce misturada coa do mar.

   In the way, I picked up with those salt stones that the sun made from fresh water mixed with sea water.

• saleiro

• As Saíñas

• “sal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “sal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “sal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “sal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “sal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

sal

1. sun, day, daytime
2. a 24 hour period
3. weather
4. classifier for days

• salgipeng

Inherited from Portuguese sal, from Old Galician-Portuguese sal, from Latin salem. Cognate with Kabuverdianu sal.

sal

1. salt

sal

1. indefinite accusative singular of salur
2. indefinite dative singular of salur

From Dutch zaal, from Middle Dutch sale, from Old Dutch sala, from Proto-West Germanic *sali, from Proto-Germanic *saliz, from Proto-Indo-European *sol-, *sel- (“human settlement, village, dwelling”). Cognate of Afrikaans saal (“hall, large room”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsal/ [ˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sal

sal (plural sal-sal)

1. a large room, hall
2. (healthcare, medicine) ward

• bangsal

• “sal”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

sal (plural sales)

1. salt (substance consisting of positive and negative ions)

• salin

sal f (genitive singular saile) or
sal m (genitive singular sail)

1. alternative form of sail (“dirt; stain”)

As masculine first-declension noun:

As feminine second-declension noun:

From Latin salem.

sal ?

1. salt

Inherited from Portuguese sal, from Old Galician-Portuguese sal, from Latin salem. Cognate with Guinea-Bissau Creole sal.

sal

1. salt

sal

1. (Sal) Sal
2. One of the ten islands of Cape Verde

From Proto-Turkic *sāl.

sal

1. raft

• N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “sal”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

From Proto-Italic *sāls, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l.^[1] The contrast between long ā in the nominative singular and short a in the oblique forms has been interpreted as an archaic ablaut pattern^[1] that may be paralleled by pār-paris, mās-maris, and lār-laris.^[2]

Cognates include Latvian sāls, Old Armenian աղ (ał), Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls), Tocharian A sāle, Old English sealt (English salt), Proto-Slavic *solь and borrowed into Etruscan 𐌀𐌋𐌑𐌀𐌔𐌄 (alśase).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsaːɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsal]
• There is only limited attestation of the length of the vowel in the nominative singular: one line in Statius and one in Ausonius.^[3][4][5] The grammarian Priscian describes sal as containing a short vowel,^[6] whereas it is later described as long by the anonymous author of the Ars Bernensis^[7] and by Rabanus Maurus.^[8]

sāl m or n (genitive salis); third declension

1. salt

   cum grānō salis ― with a grain of salt

   • 89 CE – 96 CE, Statius, Silvae 4.9.36, (Phalaecian hendecasyllable):

     non sal oxyporumve caseusve

     • 2015 translation by D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Christopher A. Parrott

       no salt, no condiment, no cheese?

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 1.337–338:

     ante, deōs hominī quod conciliāre valēret,
     fār erat et pūrī lūcida mīca salis

     Formerly, what served to win the favor of the gods to man
     was emmer and the glittering grain of pure salt.

   • c. 310 CE – c. 394 CE, Ausonius, epigrammata 96:

     Dodra ex dodrante est. Sic collige: ius aqua vinum
     sal oleum panis mel piper herba, novem.

     • 1921 translation by Hugh G. Evelyn White

       Dodra ("nines") is from dodrans (nine-twelfths). Thus compound: broth, water, wine, salt, oil, bread, honey, pepper, herbs: there's nine!

   • c. 1300 – 1350, Henry of Friemar:^[9]

     Sal, oleum, chrisma, cereus, chrismale, saliva, / flatus: virtutem baptismatis ista figurant. / Hec cum patrinis non mutant esse, sed ornant.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (figurative) wit
3. (poetic) brine, salt water, the sea
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.35:

     vēla dabant laetī, et spūmās salis aere ruēbant

     [The Trojans] were gladly spreading their sails, and churning the foam of the salt water with their bronze [prows].

• Occasionally neuter in the singular: this affects the form of the accusative case (sāl when neuter, salem when masculine) and the agreement of associated adjectives and pronouns. The neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular form can alternatively be sale, e.g. in Ennius Ann. 385 and Varro d. Non. 223, 17.
• In the nominative and accusative plural, the word is found only in the masculine gender, with the form salēs.

Third-declension noun.

• salō
• salīnum
• salio
• sāl petrae (stone salt; that is, found as an incrustation)

• “sal”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sal”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “sal”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Apheretic form of asal.

sal

1. (colloquial) alternative form of apa pasal

Inherited from Arabic صَالَ (ṣāla).

• IPA^(key): /saːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

sal (imperfect jsul, past participle misul)

1. to rear up

sal

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of sullen

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *sal.

sal

1. slave, captive
2. men or boys in a household

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “sal”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

From Proto-Iranian *carHdáh. May have developped under the influence of Persian سال, as it may be in other Iranic languages, since it occurs as derived from *serd in more isolated Northwest Iranic languages, compare Zazaki serre, Parthian [Term?] (/⁠sarδ⁠/) and also Northern Kurdish sere, navsere.

• IPA^(key): /sɑːl/

sal f

1. year

• IPA^(key): /sɑːl/

Inherited from Danish sal, from Old Norse salr, from Proto-Germanic *salą.

sal m (definite singular salen, indefinite plural saler, definite plural salene)

1. hall (large room in which parties, meetings etc. are held)

From Old Norse sǫðull, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz. The inherited Danish spelling is sadel (now partially displaced). The spelling sal was reinforced by Nynorsk (see below), but the according pronunciation must have been common already in Dano-Norwegian and, in fact, was formerly not unknown in Denmark itself.

sal m (definite singular salen, indefinite plural saler, definite plural salene)

1. saddle (implement placed on an animal; but not usually on a two-wheeler, for which sete)
2. (geology, mathematics) saddle (anticline)
3. (music) saddle (on a stringed instrument)

• sadel (less common in the literal sense, but predominant in figurative senses)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sal

1. singular imperative of sale (“to saddle”)

Borrowed from Norwegian Nynorsk sal.

sal n (definite singular salet, indefinite plural sal, definite plural sala or salene)

1. form removed with the spelling reform of 1981; superseded by salg (“sale”)

• “sal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “sal” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

• IPA^(key): /sɑːl/

From Old Norse salr, from Proto-Germanic *saliz.

sal m (definite singular salen, indefinite plural salar, definite plural salane)

1. a large room in which parties and meetings and similar are held; a hall

From Old Norse sǫðull, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz.

sal m (definite singular salen, indefinite plural salar, definite plural salane)

1. a saddle

• sala, sale

From Old Norse sal (“payment”).

sal n (definite singular salet, indefinite plural sal, definite plural sala)

1. a sale

• selja, selje
• marknad

• “sal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• als-, las, sla

From Proto-West Germanic *sail, from Proto-Germanic *sailą (“rope”).

Cognate with Old Saxon sēl (Dutch zeel), Old High German seil (German Seil).

• IPA^(key): /sɑːl/

sāl m

1. rope, cord, rein

Strong a-stem:

• Middle English: sal, sole, soole
  • Scots: sale, saill, saile, seill, seale
  • English: sole

Inherited from Latin salem. Cognate with Old Spanish sal f and Old French sel m.

sal m (plural sales)

1. salt

• Galician: sal m
• Portuguese: sal m (see there for further descendants)

• Universo Cantigas - "sal"

From Proto-Celtic *salā.^[1]

sal f (genitive saile)

1. dirt
2. filth, stain
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 92^d12

     .i. ní do is ainm du grés pullutum dun elled ass·lentar huanaib salaib corpt[h]aib acht is ainm cac[h] la cein du cach escmun as·lentar hua drochgnimaib.

     It is not for that the term pollutum refers to pollution whereby one is defiled by bodily stains; other times, it is also a term for every impure one who is defiled by bad deeds.

• salach

• Irish: sail
• Scottish Gaelic: sal

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “sal”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

sal

1. accusative/dative singular of salr

Inherited from Latin salem m. Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese sal m and Old French sel m.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal/

sal f (plural sales)

1. salt
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 61r:

     Et ſu p̃priedat es de aborrecer la ſal tanto que biẽ parece que a entramas grand enemiztat. ca ſi las ponen en uno. quiebra la piedra ⁊ mueles; ⁊ la ſal pierde la ſalgadumbre que a en ella.

     And its property is that it loathes salt so much that it would seem that there is a great enmity between them both, for if they are placed together, the stone breaks, and the salt loses all the saltiness within.

• salado
• salgadumbre
• salgadura

• Spanish: sal f (see there for further descendants)

From Latin salem.

• IPA^(key): /sal/

sal m or f

1. salt

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: sal

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese sal, from Latin salem (“salt, wit”). Compare Galician sal.

sal m (plural sais)

1. salt (sodium chloride, a substance used as a condiment and preservative)

   Synonyms: cloreto de sódio, sal de cozinha

2. (chemistry) salt (any compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base)
3. (usually in the plural) bath salt (any of several inorganic salts sometimes added to bath water)

   Synonym: sal de banho

4. (figurative) wit; the quality of being engaging

   Synonym: graça

sal m (plural sais)

1. (rare) sal (Shorea robusta, a dipterocarpaceous tree)

• “sal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• 𐴏𐴝𐴓𐴢 (sal) — Hanifi Rohingya script

sal (Hanifi spelling 𐴏𐴝𐴓𐴢)

1. roof

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish شال (Turkish şal, from Persian شال (šâl).

• IPA^(key): /sal/

sal n (plural saluri)

1. (rare) shawl, scarf

   Synonym: șal

Shortened form of salut.

• IPA^(key): /sa(ː)l/

sal!

1. (informal) hey!

   Synonym: salut

2. (informal) bye!

   Synonyms: salut, pa

• sel (Puter)

From Latin salem.

sal m

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) salt

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal/ [ˈsal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sal

Inherited from Old Spanish sal, from Latin salem (compare Catalan sal f, French sel m, Italian sale m, Portuguese sal m, Romanian sare f; also English salt). It is not known how the noun became feminine.

sal f (plural sales)

1. salt; table salt

   Synonyms: sal común, sal de mesa

2. (chemistry) salt
3. (Central America, Mexico, Dominican Republic) bad luck, misfortune

• → Navajo: sáál
• Papiamentu: salu
• → Ye'kwana: saayu

sal

1. second-person singular imperative of salir

   Salte de aquí!

   Get out of here!

• “sal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

sal

1. romanization of 𒊩 (sal)

From Old Norse salr, from Proto-Germanic *saliz, from Proto-Indo-European *sol-, *sel-.

• Audio:

  (file)

sal c

1. a large room, a hall (often for more-or-less public activities)

   föreläsningssal

   lecture hall

   skolans matsal

   the school's dining hall

• hörsal
• läsesal
• matsal

• “sal”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “sal”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “sal”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

• als

Cognate with Persian سال (sāl).

sal

1. year

sal

1. dirty

• IPA^(key): /sɑɫ/

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish صال (sal, “raft; wine press”), from Proto-Turkic *sāl (“raft”). Cognate with Kazakh сал (sal).

sal (definite accusative salı, plural sallar)

1. raft
2. synonym of tabut

• “sal”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “sal”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “sal”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sal

1. second-person singular imperative of salmak

• sale, sałe

From Latin salem.

sal m (plural sałi)

1. salt (sodium chloride, non-chemical usage)

sal m (plural sali)

1. (chemistry) salt

sal (genitive sala, plural sals)

1. salt
   • 1952, Arie de Jong, Diatek nulik: Gospul ma ‚Matthaeus’. Kapit: V:

     Binols sal taleda; ab if sal vedonöv nensmelik, me kin osalöfükoy üfo?

     You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again?

• “sal”, in Vödabuk (in English, Esperanto, and Volapük)