salmon
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salmon¹
- /ˈsæmən/ UK
- /ˈsæmən/ US
- [ˈsɛəmən] US, æ tensing
- /ˈsæmən/ Australia
- /ˈsælmən/ Southern US, sometimes
- /ˈsɑmən/ Canada
- /ˈsamən/
- /ˈsæmən/
- /ˈsalmən/
- /ˈsalmon/
Rhymes with -æmən
Where it comes from
From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). The unpronounced l was later inserted to make the word appear closer to its Latin root (compare words like debt, indict, receipt for the same spelling Latinizations).
The verb sense “ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street” alludes to salmon swimming upstream against the flow of a river to spawn.
noun salmon · salmons
- One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn. grilled salmon
- A meal or dish made from this fish.
-
A pale pinkish-orange colour, the colour of cooked salmon.
Similar: salmon pink
- The upper bricks in a kiln which receive the least heat.
- snout (tobacco; from salmon and trout) Got any salmon?
- canned fish, usually mackerel. Tinned mackerel is confusingly called ‘salmon’ in Sri Lanka. So this dish, in Sinhalese, is salmon hodi, or salmon in gravy. Now that I think on it, all tinned fish in Sri Lanka is called salmon.
adjective
- Having a pale pinkish-orange colour. Smiley and Guillam perched disconsolately beneath it, on a bench of salmon velvet.
verb salmons · salmoning · salmoned
- To ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street. 2014: "Salmon, Don't Shoal: Learning The Lingo Of Safe Cycling" by Marc Silver, NPR Some cities discourage salmoning with clever signage, like this in London: "If you can read this you are biking the wrong way."
Salmon²
Where it comes from
* (Idaho, river): named after the fish, salmon
proper noun Salmons · Salmen
- A surname.
- A city, the county seat of Lemhi County, Idaho, United States, situated on the Salmon River, after which it was probably named.
- Ellipsis of Salmon River
Salmon³
Where it comes from
From Hebrew שַׂלְמוֹן (salmown).
proper noun Salmen
- The father of Boaz by Rahab; the son of Nahshon (biblical figure).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: salmon river, sockeye, trout, quinnat, coho, salmonid, steelhead, tuna, perch, fish, lox, harvest, smolt, timing, chinook, pacific
Translations
Every language
noun colour
| Español | salmón |
|---|---|
| Português | salmão |
| Français | saumon |
| Deutsch | lachsfarben, lachsfarbig, lachsrot, lachsrosa |
| Italiano | salmone |
| Русский | оранжево-ро́зовый цвет oranževo-rózovyj cvet, сомон somon |
noun fish
| Español | salmón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 연어 yeoneo |
| 日本語 | サーモン sāmon, 鮭 |
| 中文 | 三文魚 /三文鱼 sānwényú, 鮭魚 /鲑鱼 guīyú |
| हिन्दी | सामन sāman |
| Kiswahili | samoni |
| Português | salmão |
| Français | saumon |
| Deutsch | Lachs, Salm |
| Italiano | salmone |
| Ελληνικά | σολομός solomós |
| Română | somon |
| Русский | лосо́сь losósʹ, сёмга sjómga |
| Tiếng Việt | cá hồi |
| العربية | حُوت سُلَيْمَان ḥūt sulaymān, سَلَمُون salamūn |
| עברית | סַלְמוֹן sálmon, אִלְתִּית iltít |
adj colour
| Español | asalmonado, salmón |
|---|---|
| Português | salmão |
| Deutsch | lachsfarben |
| Русский | оранжево-ро́зовый oranževo-rózovyj |
Talk about this word "salmon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/salmon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. salmon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/salmon "salmon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/salmon.Cite this
@misc{salmon_2026,
title = {salmon},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/salmon},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
