Meanings
- idiomaticnot comparableWith a grain of salt; with a bit of common sense and skepticism.
The claim of Dr. Hodge that our standards sustain the view which he advocates, must be taken cum grano salis.
1861 "Imputation," The Danville quarterly review, Volume 3 (September, 1861), Richard H. Collins, p4032 more examples
This observation, taken cum grano salis, applies more or less to all who are daily exposed to the temptations of a superfluous table.
1817, “Observations on Ill Health, Arising from Indigestion”, in The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 87, Part 1, p420Perhaps the ascription of grammatical structure to Classical Chinese sentences must even more often be taken cum grano salis, with a pinch of salt.
1998, Joseph Needham, Christoph Harbsmeier, Science and civilisation in China, Cambridge University Press, page 142
Origin
A New Latin coinage, derived from the phrase cum grānō salis (which was not used in Classical Latin).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cum grano salis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cum%20grano%20salis
“cum grano salis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cum%20grano%20salis. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cum grano salis,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cum%20grano%20salis.
Source: cum grano salis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.