Salad Means Salted
A salad is a cold dish of mixed vegetables. The name comes from the salt in the dressing, not the leaves.
A salad is a cold dish of raw or cooked vegetables, usually dressed. The name is about the dressing: Latin *herba salata* meant salted vegetables, and the Romans dressed greens with salt, oil and vinegar. So a salad is named for the seasoning rather than the leaves — and *sauce*, *salami*, *salary* and *sausage* all come from the same *sal*, salt. *Salad days* comes from Shakespeare's Cleopatra, meaning her green and inexperienced youth.
- A cold vegetable dish. *A green salad.*
- Salad dressing — the sauce. *Salad dressing.*
- Salad days — youthful inexperience. *My salad days.*
- Latin — *sal*, salt. *The source.*
- Salary — from the same root. *Salary.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | salad | A salad. |
| Plural | salads | Salads. |
| Compound | salad bowl | A salad bowl. |
| Related | salami | Salami. |
| Latin | sal | Salt. |
- She made a simple green salad.Food.
- In my salad days I knew nothing.Shakespeare.
- Herba salata means salted greens.Etymology.
The salt family
- Salad — salted greens
- Sauce — a salted preparation
- Salami — salted meat
- Sausage — also from the salting
- Salary — from *salarium*, an allowance, traditionally linked to salt
Old French *salade*, from Vulgar Latin *salata*, salted, short for *herba salata*, salted vegetables, from *sal*, salt.
Why is salad named after salt?
Because Romans dressed raw greens with salt, oil and vinegar. Herba salata means salted vegetables.
What are salad days?
Youthful days of inexperience. The phrase comes from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.