Dictionary Home »
Dictionary Definitions » salad
salad
The definition of a salad is a prepared dish usually with a mix of lettuce and other raw or cooked vegetables and topped with a dressing.
(noun)- An example of a salad is butter lettuce chopped with tomatoes, onions and an Italian dressing.
- An example of a salad is chopped chicken, mayonnaise, onions and seasonings served on lettuce or as a spread for a sandwich; chicken salad.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.
See salad in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a dish, usually cold, of raw or sometimes cooked vegetables or fruits in various combinations, served with a dressing, or molded in gelatin, and sometimes with seafood, poultry, eggs, etc. added
- any green plant or herb used for such a dish or eaten raw
- Dialectal lettuce
- ☆ a finely chopped or ground food mixed with mayonnaise, seasonings, etc. and served as on lettuce or in a sandwich: tuna salad, egg salad sandwich
Origin: ME salat < MFr salade < Prov salada < VL *salata < fem. pp. of *salare, to salt < L sal, salt
See salad in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- a. A dish of raw leafy green vegetables, often tossed with pieces of other raw or cooked vegetables, fruit, cheese, or other ingredients and served with a dressing.b. The course of a meal consisting of this dish.
- A cold dish of chopped vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, or other food, usually prepared with a dressing, such as mayonnaise.
- A green vegetable or herb used in salad, especially lettuce.
- A varied mixture: “The Declaration of Independence was . . . a salad of illusions” (George Santayana).
Origin:
Origin: Middle English salade
Origin: , from Old French
Origin: , possibly from Old Provençal salada
Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *salāta
Origin: , from feminine past participle of *salāre, to salt
Origin: , from Latin sāl, salt; see sal- in Indo-European roots
. Word History: Salt was and is such an important ingredient in salad dressings that the very word salad is based on the Latin word for “salt.” Vulgar Latin had a verb *salāre, “to salt,” from Latin sāl, “salt,” and the past participial form of this verb, *salāta, “having been salted,” came to mean “salad.” The Vulgar Latin word passed into languages descending from it, such as Portuguese (salada) and Old Provençal (salada). Old French may have borrowed its word salade from Old Provençal. Medieval Latin also carried on the Vulgar Latin word in the form salāta. As in the case of so many culinary delights, the English borrowed the word and probably the dish from the French. The Middle English word salade, from Old French salade and Medieval Latin salāta, is first recorded in a recipe book composed before 1399. • Salt is of course an important ingredient of other foods and condiments besides salad dressings, as is evidenced by some other culinary word histories. The words sauce and salsa, borrowed into English from French and Spanish, respectively, both come ultimately from the Latin word salsus, meaning “salted.” Another derivative of this word was the Late Latin adjective salsīcius, “prepared by salting,” which eventually gave us the word sausage.Learn more about salad
