Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “salt” come from?

salt (Middle English) comes from Old English sealt, from Proto-West Germanic salt, from Proto-Germanic saltą, from Proto-Indo-European séh₂l-.

salt (Middle English): salt; Something containing or for storing salt;...

Definitions

  1. salt; Something containing or for storing salt;...

Ancestry of “salt”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishsealtcommon salt; salt, salty, salted
2Proto-West Germanicsaltsalty; salt
3Proto-Germanicsaltąsalt
4Proto-Indo-Europeanséh₂l-—

Words derived from “salt”

  • salt
  • salting
  • saltspoonful
  • saltbush
  • saltfish
  • saltworks
  • saltbox
  • saltspoon
  • salter
  • saltless
  • drysalter
  • saltgrass
  • protosalt
  • saltwort
  • desalt
  • subsalt
  • resalt
  • persalt
  • desalter
  • saltie
  • saltfree
  • saltmaking
  • saltlike
  • sesquisalt
Every word from Proto-Indo-European séh₂l- →