English
salacious
Salacious comes from Latin salāx ‘provocative, lustful’, from saliō ‘to leap, jump’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-1‘jump, spring’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sl̥-yé-tor1uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἅλλομαι1hállomai‘to leap, jump’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliō2‘to leap, jump’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsalāx3as salāx‘provocative, lustful’
- Englishtodaysalacious3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin salio, which cites LIV
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin salax
- 3 Wiktionary, English salacious
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-Wiktionary, Latin salio, which cites LIV‘jump, spring’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sl̥-yé-torWiktionary, Latin salio, which cites LIVuncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἅλλομαιWiktionary, Latin salio, which cites LIVhállomai‘to leap, jump’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaliōWiktionary, Latin salax‘to leap, jump’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsalāxWiktionary, English salaciousas salāx‘provocative, lustful’
- EnglishtodaysalaciousWiktionary, English salacious
Formed from -ious
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sel- ‘jump, spring’
sale, insult, savage, exile, silva, salon, salvage, sill, sylvan, salle, slink, somersault, selva, seel, selly, 17 more
through Latin saliō ‘to leap, jump’
result, salt, sauce, salmon, resilience, sally, salad, resilient, salient, resiliency, exultant, salience, 26 more
Today it means
adj Promoting sexual desire or lust.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “salacious”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin salio, Latin salax. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sel- / salacious