Where does “Wortsalat” come from?

Wortsalat (German) comes from German salāt, from Italian salata, from Vulgar Latin salata, from Latin Salo, from Latin saliō, from Latin sāl, from Proto-Italic sāls, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l — salt.

Wortsalat (German): word salad

Definitions

  1. word salad

Ancestry of “Wortsalat”, step by step

Wortsalat traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German salāt

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germansalātsalad mixed, usually cold dish
2Italiansalatafeminine singular of salato; salad, something...
3Vulgar Latinsalatasalted
4LatinSalothat flows near Bilbilis and then into the Iberus, now the Jalón
5Latinsaliōto leap, jump, bound
6Latinsālsalt
7Proto-Italicsālssalt
8Proto-Indo-European*sḗh₂lsalt

via German wôrt

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanwôrtplural word as an isolated unit
2Middle High Germanwortword; verb
3Old High Germanwortword; verb
4Proto-West Germanicwordword
5Proto-Germanicwurdąword
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwerdʰo-word
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwerh₁-to speak, say
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂lEvery word from Proto-Italic sālsEvery word from Latin sāl