salsa

PIE word
*séh₂ls

Borrowed from Spanish salsa (“sauce”), from Latin salsus (“salted”), whence also the doublet sauce (via Old French).

• (US) enPR: sälʹsə, IPA^(key): /ˈsɑl.sə/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsæl.sə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑlsə

salsa (countable and uncountable, plural salsas)

2. (countable) A spicy tomato sauce of Mexican origin, often including onions and hot peppers.
   • 1994 July 21, Faye Fiore, “Congress relishes another franking privilege: Meat lobby puts on the dog with exclusive luncheon for lawmakers – experts on pork”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1]:

     Congressmen gleefully wolfed down every imaginable version of the hot dog – smoked kielbasas, jumbo grillers, Big & Juicy's, kosher dogs and spiced dogs – topped with every imaginable condiment – hot mustard, sweet mustard, jalapenos, spaghetti sauce, regular relish, corn relish, maple syrup salsa and the secret sauce of Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). ("If I told you the recipe," an aide explained, "I'd have to shoot you.")

4. (uncountable, music) A style of urban music originally from New York heavily influenced by Cuban dance music, jazz and rock.
6. (countable, dance) Any of several dances performed to salsa music.

• In the context of gastronomy, English speakers typically use salsa to refer to the Mexican tomato-based dish, which varies widely in regards to texture, flavor, and certain ingredients. When referring to pureed spicy sauce sold in bottles, however, the term hot sauce is typically used.

• salt

• → Mongolian: салса (salsa)

• 2001. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America. Garland Publishing. Ellen Koskoff (Ed.). Pg. 336.

salsa (third-person singular simple present salsas, present participle salsaing, simple past and past participle salsaed)

1. (intransitive) To dance the salsa.

   They salsaed late until the night.

• Salas, Lassa, salas

Inherited from Old Catalan salsa, from Vulgar Latin *salsa, a noun based on the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), perfect passive participle of salīre, a verb based on sāl.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsal.sə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈsal.sa]

salsa f (plural salses)

1. sauce
2. salsa (music)
3. salsa (dance)

• salsir
• salsitxa

• “salsa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “salsa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “salsa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “salsa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From English salsa. Doublet of sarsa.

• Hyphenation: sal‧sa

salsa

1. salsa; a spicy tomato sauce
2. salsa music
3. any of several dances performed to salsa music

salsa f

1. salsa (dance)

• “salsa”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑl.saː/
• Hyphenation: sal‧sa

Borrowed from English salsa, from Spanish salsa, from Latin salsus.

salsa m (plural salsa's)

1. salsa (dance)

• salsadans
• salsaën

Borrowed from Spanish salsa, from Latin salsus.

salsa m (plural salsa's)

1. salsa (spicy tomato sauce)

• saus

From Spanish salsa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑlsɑ/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝ls̠ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑlsɑ
• Syllabification^(key): sal‧sa
• Hyphenation^(key): sal‧sa

salsa

1. salsa (sauce)
2. (music) salsa
3. (dance) salsa

• (sauce): salsakastike

• “salsa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

• Audio:

  (file)

salsa f (plural salsas)

1. salsa (dance or music)
2. salsa (sauce)

From Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), from saliō, from sal.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsalsɐ]

salsa f (plural salsas)

1. sauce, gravy (liquid condiment)

   Synonyms: mollo, prebe

2. salt water

   Synonym: auga salgada

3. seawater

   Synonym: auga do mar

4. brine

   Synonym: salmoira

5. (figurative) gift of the gab
6. salsa (tomato sauce)
7. salsa (dance)

• sal

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “salsa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “salsa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “salsa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

From Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), from saliō, from sal.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal.sa/
• Rhymes: -alsa
• Hyphenation: sàl‧sa

salsa f (plural salse)

1. sauce

• salso
• salare
• sale

• → Greek: σάλτσα (sáltsa)
  • → Ottoman Turkish: صالچه (salça)
    • Turkish: salça
• → Ottoman Turkish: صالسه (salsa)

• lassa

salsa

1. inflection of salsus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

salsā

1. ablative feminine singular of salsus

• "salsa", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Borrowed from Spanish salsa, from Latin salsus (“salted”). Doublet of sos (“sauce”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsal.sa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alsa
• Syllabification: sal‧sa

salsa f

1. salsa (spicy tomato sauce)
2. salsa (dance)

• salsa in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• salsa in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Hyphenation: sal‧sa

From Latin salsa herba (“salted herb”).

salsa f (plural salsas)

1. parsley (Petroselinum crispum, a herb)

   Synonyms: perrexil, salsinha

Borrowed from Spanish salsa.

salsa f (uncountable)

1. (music, dance genre) salsa (a music and dance genre influenced by Cuban music, jazz and rock)

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish salsa.

salsa f (plural salse)

1. salsa

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), from saliō, from sal.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsalsa/ [ˈsal.sa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alsa
• Syllabification: sal‧sa

salsa f (plural salsas)

1. sauce, gravy (liquid condiment)
2. (Mexico, Latin America) A sauce and/or dip of varying textures with a typical base of tomatoes, onion, and chili peppers.
3. salsa (style of music)
4. salsa (dance performed to salsa music)

• → Cebuano: salsa
• → Dutch: salsa
• → English: salsa

• “salsa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

salsa f

1. feminine singular of salso

salsa c

1. salsa (sauce)
2. salsa (style of music)
3. salsa (dance)

• salsa in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• salsa in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• salsa in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from Spanish salsa, from Latin salsus (“salted”). Doublet of sarsa.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsalsa/ [ˈsal.sɐ]
• Rhymes: -alsa
• Syllabification: sal‧sa

salsa (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜎ᜔ᜐ)

1. (dance) salsa
2. alternative form of sarsa

• “salsa”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

• sasal, salas, Salas