noun · masculinethird declension
sāl
sāl m or n (genitive salis)
Classical[ˈsaːɫ]Ecclesiastical[ˈsal]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- salt
cum grānō salis
with a grain of saltnon sal oxyporumve caseusve
2015 translation by D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Christopher A. Parrott no salt, no condiment, no cheese?89 CE – 96 CE, Statius, Silvae 4.9.36 (Phalaecian hendecasyllable) - figurativelywit
- poeticbrine, salt water, the sea
vēla dabant laetī, et spūmās salis aere ruēbant
[The Trojans] were gladly spreading their sails, and churning the foam of the salt water with their bronze [prows].29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.35
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
sine sale cibus grātus nōn est; ē marī venit.sāl salis m — in Mille Verba, Cibus et Convīvium
quod cibum conditsāl, salis (m) — in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ch. 3
id quō cibus condītursal, salis (m) — in Evangelium secundum Marcum, ch. 14
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Lepidus · Facetus · Festivus · Salsus · Dicax · Cavillator
Lepos, facetiæ, and festivitas, denote the harmless wit, which, like humor, is only opposed to seriousness, and is the attribute of a benevolent mind; lepos (from λέπω, λεπτός,) the lightest wit, in opp. to dull gravity; festivitas (from σπαθᾶν) the more cheerful sort of wit, in opp. to gloomy seriousness; facetiæ, the jocund wit, in opp. to sober seriousness; whereas sales, dicacitas, and cavillatio, denote the more pungent wit, which is a sign of an acute intellect; sales (ἅλες) the piquant wit, in opp. to what is flat and trivial, which aims at a point, whether others may be pleasantly or painfully affected by it; dicacitas (from δακεῖν) the satirical wit, which is exercised at the cost of others, yet so that the jest is still the principal aim,—the pain inflicted, only an accidental adjunct; cavillatio, the scoffing wit, in which the mortification of others is the principal aim, the jest only a means and unimportant form. Cic. Orat. 30. Demosthenes non tam dicax fuit, quam facetus. Est autem illud acrioris ingenii, hoc majoris artis. (v. 21).
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sāl ◻ | salēs ◻ēs |
| genitive | salis ◻is | salum salium, ◻um |
| dative | salī ◻ī | salibus ◻ibus |
| accusative | salem sāl, ◻em | salēs ◻ēs |
| ablative | sale ◻e | salibus ◻ibus |
| vocative | sāl ◻ | salēs ◻ēs |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- aspergere sales orationi (Or. 26. 87)
- to intersperse one's speech with humorous remarks.
sal, sălis (
I. neutr. collat. form of the nom. sălĕ, Enn. ap. Gell. 2, 26, or Ann. v. 378 Vahl.; Varr. ap. Non. 223, 17; also, in the regular form sometimes neutr. in sing., v. infra, I.; but plur. always sales, m.; cf. Neue, Formenl. 1, 697 sq.; dat. plur.: infusis salis, Fabian. ap. Charis. p. 82 P.), m. root sal-, to stream, flow; cf. ἅλς; perh. also found in insula, salix.
I. Lit., salt.
a. Sing.
(a). Masc.: ex sale, qui apud Carthaginienses fit, Cato ap. Prisc. p. 659 P.:
salem candidum sic facito, id. R. R. 88; Varr. R. R. 1, 7, 8; Col. 6, 17, 7; 8, 6 Schneid. N. cr.; 12, 6, 2; 12, 21, 2 al.; Plin. 31, 7, 39, § 73; Plaut. Merc. 1, 2, 95; id. Curc. 4, 4, 6; id. Pers. 3, 3, 25; Sall. Fragm. ap. Charis. p. 82 P., and ap. Prisc. p. 644 ib.; Hor. S. 1, 5, 46 et saep.—Prov.: salem cum pane edit, Plin. 31, 8, 41, § 89.—(b). Neutr.: nunc vides in conviviis ita poni et sal et mel, Varr. ap. Charis. p. 82 P.; so, aliud, Fabian. ib. p. 82 P.;
tritum, Veg. 2, 24, 4 al.; v. also infra, II.—(g). Doubtful gen.:
multos modios salis, Cic. Lael. 19, 67: (caseum) parco sale reponunt, Verg. G. 3, 403; Caes. B. C. 2, 37: salis vendendi arbitrium, Liv. 29, 6; 45, 29; Hor. S. 1, 3, 14; 2, 2, 17; 2, 4, 74; Col. 7, 8, 5; Cels. 2, 24; Plin. 31, 7, 42, § 91.—b. Plur.:
quin aspergi solent sales: melior fossilis quam marinus, Varr. R. R. 2, 11, 6; Col. 7, 4, 8; 8, 6, 1; Pall. 9, 2 Mai; id. Nov. 19; Fabian. ap. Charis. p. 82 P.; Ov. M. 15, 286.—B. Meton.
1. Poet., the salt water, brine, sea.
a. Sing., Enn. 1. 1.:
supra rorem salis edita pars est remorum, Lucr. 4, 438: et sale tabentes artus in litore ponunt, Verg. A. 1, 173; 1, 35; 3, 385; 5, 848; 5, 866; 6, 697; 10, 214; Ov. P. 1, 1, 70; Val. Fl. 4, 722.—2. A speck on precious stones shaped like a grain of salt.—Sing.:
sal, Plin. 37, 6, 22, § 83; 37, 8, 37, § 117; 37, 2, 10, § 28.—Plur.: sales, Plin. 37, 2, 8, § 22.—II. Trop.
A. Intellectual acuteness, good sense, shrewdness, cunning, wit, facetiousness, sarcasm, a witticism, witty saying (class. in sing. and plur.;
syn.: lepos, facetiae, festivitas): (sal) adeo necessarium elementum est, ut transierit intellectus ad voluptates animi quoque. Nam ita sales appellantur, omnisque vitae lepos et summa hilaritas laborumque requies non alio magis vocabulo constat, Plin. 31, 7, 41, § 88. a. Sing.:
qui habet salem, quod in te est, Ter. Eun. 3, 1, 10; cf.: nulla venustas, Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis, Cat. 86, 4: Caesar inusitatum nostris oratoribus leporem quendam et salem est consecutus, Cic. de Or. 2, 23, 98; cf. id. N. D. 2, 29, 74: sale vero et facetiis Caesar vicit omnis, id. Off. 1, 37, 133: (litterae) tum humanitatis sparsae sale, id. Att. 1, 13, 1: qui (versus) dum denique habent salem ac leporem, Cat. 16, 7: P. Scipio omnes sale facetiisque superabat, Cic. Brut. 34, 128; cf.: argutiae facetissimi salis, Plin. 35, 10, 37, § 117: salis satis est, sannionum parum, Cic Fam. 9, 16, 10: in quo mihi videtur specimen fuisse humanitatis, salis, suavitatis, leporis, id. Tusc. 5, 19, 55: (Lucilius) sale multo Urbem defricuit, Hor. S. 1, 10, 3; cf. of the same: acerbitas et abundantia salis, Quint. 10, 1, 94: hic delectatur iambis, Ille Bioneïs sermonibus et sale nigro, i. e. biting wit, sarcasm, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 60; Cat. 13, 5: qui plurimum in scribendo et salis haberet et fellis nec candoris minus, Plin. Ep. 3, 21, 1. —(b). Neutr. (ante-class.): quicquid loquitur, sal merum est, Afran. ap. Prisc. p. 659 P.; so, (puella) Χαρίτων μία, tota merum sal, Lucr. 4, 1162.—
b. Plur.:
Romani veteres atque urbani sales, Cic. Fam. 9, 15, 2: vestri proavi Plautinos Laudavere sales, Hor. A. P. 271; Sen. Vit. Beat. 27, 2: periculosi sales, id. Tranq. 1, 4: libaboque tuos, scite Menandre, sales, Prop. 3 (4), 21, 28. huic generi orationis aspergentur etiam sales, qui in dicendo minimum quantum valent: quorum duo genera sunt, unum facetiarum, alterum dicacitatis, Cic. Or. 26, 87; cf. Quint. 6, 3, 15; 10, 1, 117: (Ciceronem) in salibus aliquando frigidum, id. 12, 10, 12: a salibus suffusis felle refugi, Ov. Tr. 2, 565: protervi sales, Stat. S. 1, 6, 6: salibus vehemens intra pomoeria natis, Juv. 9, 11.—* B. (Borrowed from the use of salt as a relish.) Good taste, elegance:
tectum antiquitus constitutum plus salis quam sumptūs habebat, Nep. Att. 13, 2.— C. Sharpness, pungency, stimulus, incentive:
quae (sc. calor, sanguis) aviditatem naturali sale augent, Plin. 10, 72, 93, § 198.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
sāl salis
1 SAL-, salt water, brine, the sea : sale tabentes artūs, V.: aequorei unda salis, O.: Hypanis salibus vitiatur amaris, O.— Salt : praebere ligna salemque, H.: multos modios salis: aquae et salis copia, Cs.: sale invecto uti, L.— Fig., intellectual acuteness, good sense, shrewdness, cunning, wit, facetiousness, sarcasm : habere salem, T.: aliquid salis a mimā uxore trahere: sale vicit omnīs: salis satis est, sannionum parum: (Lucilius) sale multo Urbem defricuit, H.: delectatur sale nigro, i. e. biting sarcasm , H.—Plur, witticisms, jests, smart sayings, sarcasms : Romani veteres atque urbani sales: Plautinos laudare sales, H.: salibus vehemens intra pomoeria natis, Iu.— Good taste, elegance : tectum plus salis quam sumptūs habebat, N.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *sāls, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l. The contrast between long ā in the nominative singular and short a in the oblique forms has been interpreted as an archaic ablaut pattern that may be paralleled by pār-paris, mās-maris, and lār-laris. Cognates include Latvian sāls, Old Armenian աղ (ał), Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls), Tocharian A sāle, Old English sealt (English salt), Proto-Slavic *solь and borrowed into Etruscan 𐌀𐌋𐌑𐌀𐌔𐌄 (alśase).
Descendants
- Catalansal
- Italiansale
- Occitansal
- Occitansau
- Frenchselfrom Old French sel
- Portuguesesalfrom Old Galician-Portuguese sal
- Spanishsalfrom Old Spanish sal
- Romaniansare
- Sardiniansale
- Aromaniansari