salary

sal·a·ry
S1A1L1A1R1Y4
Australia, Canada, US, UK/ˈsæləɹi/Scotland/ˈsaləɾe/Scotland/-ɾɪ/Scotland/-ɾi/

noun

A fixed amount of money paid to a worker, usually calculated on a monthly or annual basis, not hourly, as wages. Implies a degree of professionalism and/or autonomy.

Similar
wagepayearningsremuneration
OriginMiddle English salarie ← Anglo-Norman salarie ← Old French salaire →
CommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

nounsalary (plural salaries)

plural salaries · alternative obsolete sallary · alternative obsolete sellary

  1. A fixed amount of money paid to a worker, usually calculated on a monthly or annual basis, not hourly, as wages. Implies a degree of professionalism and/or autonomy.

    This is hire and salary, not revenge.

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]
    2 more examples

    Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.

    1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547

    I used to say to our audiences: “It is difficult to get a man understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”

    1935, Upton Sinclair, chapter XX, in I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked, page 109
verbsalary (third-person singular simple present salaries, present participle salarying, simple past and past participle salaried)

present singular third person salaries · participle present salarying · participle past salaried · past salaried · alternative obsolete sallary · alternative obsolete sellary

  1. To pay on the basis of a period of a week or longer, especially to convert from another form of compensation.
adjectivesalary (comparative more salary, superlative most salary)

comparative more salary · superlative most salary · alternative obsolete sallary · alternative obsolete sellary

  1. obsoleteSaline.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsomething that remunerates

Similar
wagepayearningsremuneration
Broader
regular payment
Also see
earningspayremunerationwage

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsalārium“wages”
  2. Old Frenchsalaire
  3. Anglo-Normansalarie
  4. Middle Englishsalarie
  5. Englishsalary

From Middle English salarie, from Anglo-Norman salarie, from Old French salaire, from Latin salārium (“wages”), the neuter form of the adjective salārius (“related to salt”), from sal (“salt”). There have been various attempts to explain how the Latin term for “wages” came from the adjective “related to salt”. It is generally assumed that salārium was an abbreviation of salārium argentum (“salt money”), though that phrase is not attested. A commonly cited theory states that the phrase meant “money consisting of salt”, because, supposedly, Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt, but there is no evidence for either of these claims from ancient sources. Another is that the phrase meant “money used to buy salt [and other miscellaneous items]”.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans loon
  • loonfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Ancient Greek μισθός, ὀψώνιον
  • μισθός (misthós)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Arabic رَاتِب, أَجْر
  • رَاتِب (rātib)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • أَجْر (ʔajr)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مَعَاش (maʕāš)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • أُجْرَة (ʔujra)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مُرَتَّب (murattab)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مَعَاش (maʕāš)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • رَاتِب (rātib)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مَعَاش (maʕāš)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Bengali বেতন, উজরত
  • বেতন (beton)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • উজরত (ujrot)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Bulgarian запла́та, на́дница
  • запла́та (zapláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • на́дница (nádnica)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Catalan salari, sou
  • salarifixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • soufixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Chinese Cantonese 人工, 薪水
  • 人工 (jan⁴ gung¹)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 薪水 (san¹ seoi²)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Chinese Mandarin 薪金, 薪水
  • 薪金 (xīnjīn)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 薪水 (xīnshuǐ)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 工資 /工资 (gōngzī)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 工錢 /工钱 (gōngqián)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Czech plat, mzda
  • platfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • mzdafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Danish løn, månedsløn
  • lønfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • månedslønfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • årslønfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • årslønningfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Dutch salaris, loon
  • salarisfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • loonfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Esperanto salajro
  • salajrofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Estonian palk
  • palkfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Finnish kuukausipalkka, vuosipalkka
  • kuukausipalkkafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • vuosipalkkafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • kiinteä palkkafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • palkkafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • liksafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
French salaire
  • salairefixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
German Gehalt, Lohn
  • Gehaltfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • Lohnfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Greek μισθός
  • μισθός (misthós)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Hebrew משכורת \ מַשְׂכֹּרֶת, שָׂכָר
  • משכורת \ מַשְׂכֹּרֶת (maskorét)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • שָׂכָר (sakhár)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Hindi वेतन, तनख़्वाह
  • वेतन (vetan)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • तनख़्वाह (tanxvāh)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • मासिक वेतन (māsik vetan)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • दिहाड़ी (dihāṛī)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • पगार (pagār)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • मेहनताना (mehantānā)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Hungarian fizetés, bér
  • fizetésfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • bérfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Icelandic laun, föst laun
  • launfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • föst launfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • kaupfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Indonesian gaji
  • gajifixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Irish tuarastal
  • tuarastalfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Italian stipendio, salario
  • stipendiofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • salariofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Japanese サラリー, 給料
  • サラリー (sararī)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 給料 (kyūryō)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Korean 급료, 봉급
  • 급료 (geumnyo)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 봉급 (bonggeup)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 임금 (imgeum)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • 샐러리 (saelleori)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Latin salārium, manū̆pretium
  • salāriumfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • manū̆pretiumfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Latvian alga
  • algafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Lithuanian užmokestis, alga
  • užmokestisfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • algafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Malay gaji, ujrah
  • gajifixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • ujrahfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • ݢاجيfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • اجرهfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Māori utu-ā-tau, utu ā-marama
  • utu-ā-taufixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • utu ā-maramafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Norwegian Bokmål lønn
  • lønnfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Polish pensja, płaca
  • pensjafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • płacafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • wynagrodzeniefixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Portuguese salário
  • saláriofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Romanian salariu, leafă
  • salariufixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • leafăfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • platăfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Russian за́работная пла́та, зарпла́та
  • за́работная пла́та (zárabotnaja pláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • зарпла́та (zarpláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • жа́лование (žálovanije)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • окла́д (oklád)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Scottish Gaelic tuarasdal, tuarastal
  • tuarasdalfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • tuarastalfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Slovak plat, mzda
  • platfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • mzdafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Spanish salario, sueldo
  • salariofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • sueldofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • salariarTranslations
Swahili mshahara
  • mshaharafixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Swedish lön, månadslön
  • lönfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • månadslönfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Tagalog suweldo, pasahod
  • suweldofixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • pasahodfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • sahodfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Tamil சம்பளம்
  • சம்பளம் (campaḷam)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Thai เงินเดือน, ค่าจ้าง
  • เงินเดือน (ngən-dʉʉan)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • ค่าจ้าง (kâa-jâang)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Turkish aylık, maaş
  • aylıkfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • maaşfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • ücretfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Ukrainian заробі́тна пла́та, зарпла́та
  • заробі́тна пла́та (zarobítna pláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • зарпла́та (zarpláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • запла́та (zapláta)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • жа́лування (žáluvannja)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Urdu ویتَن, اُجْرَت
  • ویتَن (vetan)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • اُجْرَت (ujrat)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • تَنْخواہ (tanxvāh)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • سَیلْری (sailrī)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مُشاہَرَہ (muśāhara)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • مِحَنْتانَہ (mihantāna)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • پَگار (pagār)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
  • طَلَب (talab)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Vietnamese lương
  • lươngfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Welsh cyflog
  • cyflogfixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis
Yiddish שׂכירות
  • שׂכירות (skhires)fixed amount of money paid on monthly or annual basis

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with salary

galleryValeriecalorieMalloryrogues' gallery
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

celery (salary–celery merger)celery (salary–celery merger)celery (salary–celery merger)

Anagrams

Larysa
Cite this entry
APA

salary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salary

MLA

“salary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salary. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “salary,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salary.

Source: salary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.