Etymograph

English

salt

Salt comes from Old English sealt ‘salt’, from Proto-Germanic *saltą ‘salt’, from pre-Germanic *sh₂eldóm, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l ‘salt’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sḗh₂l1‘salt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂eldóm1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saltą1‘salt’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*salt1‘salt’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sealt1‘common salt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500salt1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1430salt1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English salt
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1430, Thomas Austin, Laud ms. 553: “Take gode almaunde mylke y-draw wyth wyn, an let…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sḗh₂lWiktionary, English salt‘salt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂eldómWiktionary, English saltreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saltąWiktionary, English salt‘salt’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*saltWiktionary, English salt‘salt’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sealtWiktionary, English salt‘common salt’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saltWiktionary, English salt
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1430saltWiktionary, English salt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1430, Thomas Austin, Laud ms. 553: “Take gode almaunde mylke y-draw wyth wyn, an let…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with salt, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l

  • sauce ← sause ← *salsa ← salsus ← saliō
  • salary ← salarie ← salarie ← salaire ← salārium
  • cellar ← salière ← salier ← salarius ← sal
  • sausage ← sawsiche ← sausiche ← salsīcia ← salsīcius
  • salad ← salade ← salade ← salada ← *salāta
  • saline ← salyne ← salīna ← sal ← *sāls
  • salsa ← salsus ← sallō ← *saldō
  • halogen ← ἅλς ← *hā́ls
  • sal ← *sāls
  • salami ← salame ← sale ← sal ← *sāls
  • salina ← sal ← *sāls

31 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “salt”. 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 *sḗh₂l / salt