I. ˈsȯlt noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sealt; akin to Old High German salz salt, Lithuanian saldus sweet, Latin sal salt, Greek hals salt, sea
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : a crystalline compound NaCl that consists of sodium chloride, is abundant in nature, and is used especially to season or preserve food or in industry — called also common salt
b. : a substance (as Glauber's salt) resembling common salt
c. plural
(1) : a mineral or saline mixture (as Epsom salts) used as an aperient or cathartic
(2) : smelling salts
d. : any of various compounds that result from replacement of part or all of the acid hydrogen of an acid by a metal or a group acting like a metal : an ionic crystalline compound
2. : a container for salt at table — often used in the phrases above the salt and below the salt alluding to the former custom of seating persons of higher rank above and those of lower rank below a saltcellar placed in the middle of a long table
3.
a. : an ingredient that gives savor, piquancy, or zest : flavor
a people…full of life, vigor, and the salt of personality — Clifton Fadiman
b. : sharpness of wit : pungency
c. : common sense
d. : reserve , skepticism — usually used in the phrases with a grain of salt and with a pinch of salt
e. : a dependable steadfast person or group of people — usually used in the phrase salt of the earth
4. : sailor
a tale worthy of an old salt
5. : keep 3 — usually used in the phrase worth one's salt
• salt·like -ˌlīk adjective
II. transitive verb
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : to treat, provide, or season with common salt
b. : to preserve (food) with salt or in brine
c. : to supply (as an animal) with salt
2. : to give flavor or piquancy to (as a story)
3.
a. : to enrich (as a mine) artificially by secretly placing valuable mineral in some of the working places
b. : to add something to secretly
salt ed the files with forged papers
also : to insert or place secretly
salt ed the mines along the road
4.
a. : to sprinkle with or as if with a salt
b. : scatter , intersperse
• salt·er ˈsȯl-tər noun
III. adjective
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : saline , salty
b. : being or inducing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is suggestive of seawater — compare bitter , sour , sweet
2. : cured or seasoned with salt : salted
salt cod
3. : overflowed with salt water
a salt pond
4. : sharp , pungent
• salt·ness noun
IV. adjective
Etymology: by shortening & alteration from assaut, from Middle English, from Anglo-French en saut in rut
Date: 1598
obsolete : lustful , lascivious