salary

salary
[14] Salary goes back to a Latin word that originally denoted an ‘allowance given to Roman soldiers for buying salt’ (salt being in former times a valued commodity, over which wars were fought, rather than taken for granted as it is today). This was salārium, a derivative of sāl ‘salt’. It soon broadened out to mean ‘fixed periodic payment for work done’, and passed in this sense via Anglo-Norman salarie into English. => SALT
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   The word for a regular payment for work goes back to Latin salarium, the term for the allowance given to Roman soldiers to buy salt (Latin sal). Compare modern English 'He's not worth his salt,' and the like.

The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins. 2013.

Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Salary — Sal a*ry v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Salaried}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Salarying}.] To pay, or agree to pay, a salary to; to attach salary to; as, to salary a clerk; to salary a position. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • salary — sal·a·ry n pl ries: fixed compensation paid regularly for services sal·a·ried adj Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. salary …   Law dictionary

  • salary — (n.) mid 14c., compensation, payment, whether periodical, for regular service or for a specific service; from Anglo Fr. salarie (late 13c.), O.Fr. salarie, from L. salarium salary, stipend, originally soldier s allowance for the purchase of salt …   Etymology dictionary

  • Salary — Sal a*ry, n.; pl. {Salaries}. [F. salaire, L. salarium, originally, salt money, the money given to the Roman soldiers for salt, which was a part of their pay, fr. salarius belonging to salt, fr. sal salt. See {Salt}.] The recompense or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Salary — Sal a*ry, a. [L. salarius.] Saline [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • salary — *wage or wages, stipend, pay, hire, emolument, fee …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • salary — [n] money paid for work done bacon*, bread*, earnings, emolument, fee, hire, income, pay, payroll, recompense, remuneration, scale, stipend, take, take home*, wage, wages; concept 344 Ant. debt …   New thesaurus

  • salary — ► NOUN (pl. salaries) ▪ a fixed regular payment made by an employer to an employee, especially a professional or white collar worker. ORIGIN Latin salarium, originally denoting a Roman soldier s allowance to buy salt, from sal salt …   English terms dictionary

  • salary — [sal′ə rē, sal′rē] n. pl. salaries [ME salarie < L salarium, orig., money for salt (as part of Roman soldier s pay) < sal, SALT] a fixed payment at regular intervals for services, esp. when clerical or professional SYN. WAGE …   English World dictionary

  • salary — Regular wages and benefits an employee receives from an employer. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary * * * salary sal‧a‧ry [ˈsæləri] noun salaries PLURALFORM [countable, uncountable] HUMAN RESOURCES money that you receive as payment from the… …   Financial and business terms

  • salary — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ big, generous, good, handsome, high, huge, large, top ▪ Top salaries are liable for a higher rate of tax …   Collocations dictionary

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