salmon

See also: Salmon and salmón

English

Etymology

From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”). 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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: să'mən, IPA^(key): /ˈsæmən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æmən
• (Southern US, sometimes) IPA^(key): /ˈsælmən/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑmən/
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /ˈsalmən/, /ˈsalmon/

Noun

salmon (countable and uncountable, plural salmon or salmons)

2. (zoology) 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

   salmon paté

   salmon steak

   Synonyms: lax, lox

3. A meal or dish made from this fish.
4. (plural salmons) A pale pinkish-orange colour, the colour of cooked salmon.

   Synonym: salmon pink

   salmon:  

5. The upper bricks in a kiln which receive the least heat.
6. (Cockney rhyming slang) snout (tobacco; from salmon and trout)
   • 1992, “Ebeneezer Goode”, performed by The Shamen:

     Got any salmon?

Derived terms

terms derived from salmon (noun)

• Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
• Australian salmon
• bay salmon (Salmo salar)
• beaked salmon (Gonorynchus spp.)
• black salmon (Salmo salar)
• blueback salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
• Brazilian salmon pink tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana)
• Burnett salmon
• caplin-scull salmon (Salmo salar)
• cherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masou)
• Chinook salmon
• chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
• chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)
• coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
• colonial salmon
• Cornish salmon
• Danube salmon (Hucho hucho)
• Dawson river salmon (Scleropages leichardti)
• dog salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)
• fresh-water salmon (Salmo salar)
• giant salmon carp (Aaptosyax grypus)
• humpbacked salmon
• humpback salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)
• jack salmon
• kelp salmon
• king-of-the-salmon
• King Salmon
• king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
• kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
• landlocked salmon
• land-locked salmon (Salmo salar)
• lomilomi salmon
• lomi salmon
• Nova Scotia salmon
• outside salmon (Salmo salar)
• Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)
• pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)
• quinnat salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
• red salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
• rock salmon
• salmon and trout
• salmon-bellied racer (Mastigodryas melanolomus)
• salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
• salmon bites
• salmon caviar
• salmon-coloured
• salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis)
• salmon day
• salmon gum (Eucalyptus spp.)
• salmonid
• salmon killer
• salmon ladder
• salmon leap
• salmon peel
• salmon pink
• Salmon River, salmon river
• salmon shark (Lamna ditropis)
• salmon-striped swamp frog (Limnodynastes salmini)
• salmon trout (Salmo gairdneri)
• sea salmon
• Sebago salmon (Salmo salar)
• silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch, Salmo salar)
• smoked salmon
• smoked salmon socialist
• sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
• spring salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
• Tyee salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
• white salmon

 

Related terms

• samlet

Descendants

• → Burmese: ဆယ်လမွန် (hcaila.mwan)
• → Hebrew: סַלְמוֹן (sálmon)
• → Hindi: सामन (sāman)
• → Japanese: サーモン (sāmon)

Translations

fish

• Abenaki: mskwamagw
• Ahtna: łuk'ae
• Ainu: カムイチェㇷ゚ (kamuy-cep)
• Albanian: koran (sq) m, lekën (sq) m
• Aleut: adgayux
• Arabic: حُوت سُلَيْمَان m (ḥūt sulaymān), سَلَمُون m (salamūn)

  Egyptian Arabic: سلمون m (sálamun)

  Hijazi Arabic: سلمون m (salmōn, salamōn)

  Moroccan Arabic: سلمون m (salamun)

  North Levantine Arabic: سلمون m (sálamon)

  South Levantine Arabic: سلمون m (sálamun)

• Armenian: սաղմոն (hy) (saġmon)
• Asturian: salmón (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: qızılbalıq
• Basque: izokin (eu)
• Belarusian: ласо́сь m (lasósʹ)
• Bengali: স্যামন (sêmon)
• Breton: eog (br) m
• Bulgarian: сьо́мга f (sjómga)
• Burmese: ဆယ်လမွန် (hcaila.mwan)
• Catalan: salmó (ca) m
• Central Sierra Miwok: kóˑsomu-
• Chechen: морзахчӏара (morzaxčʼara)
• Cherokee: ᏎᎼᏂ (semoni)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 三文魚／三文鱼 (saam¹ man⁴ jyu^4-2)

  Mandarin: 三文魚／三文鱼 (zh) (sānwényú), 鮭魚／鲑鱼 (zh) (guīyú)

• Cornish: ehek m, sowman m
• Czech: losos (cs) m
• Danish: laks (da)
• Dutch: zalm (nl) m
• Elfdalian: laks m
• Esperanto: salmo (eo)
• Estonian: lõhe
• Faroese: laksur (fo) m
• Finnish: lohikala (fi), lohi (fi)
• French: saumon (fr) m
• Friulian: salmon m
• Galician: salmón (gl) m, irce m
• Georgian: ორაგული (oraguli)
• German: Lachs (de) m, Salm (de) m
• Greek: σολομός (el) m (solomós)
• Greenlandic: kapisilik
• Gujarati: સામન (sāman)
• Haida: sg̱waag̱an
• Halkomelem:

  Vancouver Island: stseelhtun

• Hebrew: סַלְמוֹן (he) m (sálmon), אִלְתִּית (he) f (iltít)
• Hindi: सामन (hi) (sāman)
• Hungarian: lazac (hu)
• Icelandic: lax (is) m
• Ido: salmono (io)
• Ingrian: lohi
• Interlingua: salmon (ia)
• Irish: bradán (ga) m
• Italian: salmone (it) m
• Japanese: サーモン (ja) (sāmon), 鮭 (ja) (さけ, sake; しゃけ, shake)
• Kannada: ಸ್ಯಾಮನ್ (syāman)
• Kashaya: maqʰa
• Khmer: សាលម៉ុន (saalmon)
• Klamath-Modoc: c'iyaal's
• Korean: 연어 (ko) (yeoneo)
• Kwak'wala: k̓uta̱la
• Latin: salmō m
• Latvian: lasis m
• Ligurian: salmón m
• Lithuanian: lašiša (lt) f
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: las

  German Low German: Lass

• Lower Tanana: łuk'a
• Lushootseed: sčədadxʷ
• Luxembourgish: Saumon (lb) m
• Macedonian: лосос m (losos)
• Manx: braddan m
• Maori: hāmana
• Middle English: samwn, samoun
• Mongolian: яргай загас (jargaj zagas)
• Montagnais: please add this translation if you can
• Nanai: дава (dawa)
• Naskapi: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: saumon m (Jersey), saumaon m (Guernsey), sâomoun m (continental Normandy)
• Northern Sami: luossa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: laks m, laksefisk m

• Occitan: salmon (oc) m
• Old English: leax m
• Old Irish: bratán m
• Old Norse: lax m
• Ottoman Turkish: یاین (yayın)
• Persian: ماهی آزاد (mâhi-âzâd), سالمون (sâlmon)
• Polabian: las m
• Polish: łosoś (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: salmão (pt) m
• Romani:

  Kalo Finnish Romani: loolo matšo

• Romanian: somon (ro) m
• Romansch: salmun m
• Russian: лосо́сь (ru) m (losósʹ), сёмга (ru) f (sjómga)
• Saanich: SĆÁÁNEW̱
• Scottish Gaelic: bradan m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ло̏сос m

  Roman: lȍsos (sh) m

• Sinhalese: සෑමන් (sǣman)
• Skolt Sami: luõss
• Slovak: losos (sk) m
• Slovene: losos (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: łosos m

  Upper Sorbian: łosos m

• Southern Ohlone: huuraka
• Spanish: salmón (es) m
• Squamish: sts'úḵwi7
• Swedish: lax (sv)
• Tagalog: salmon
• Tamil: ஸாமன் (sāmaṉ)
• Tanacross: łuk'a
• Telugu: సామన్ (sāman)
• Thai: แซลมอน (th) (sɛɛl-mɔ̂n)
• Tlingit: x̠áat
• Turkish: som (tr), somon (tr)
• Ukrainian: лосо́сь m (losósʹ)
• Upper Tanana: łuuk
• Urdu: سامن (sāman), سلیمانی مچھلی (sulēmānī-machlī)
• Uyghur: قايران (qayran)
• Vietnamese: cá hồi
• Volapük: salm (vo)
• Welsh: eog (cy) m, eogiaid m pl
• West Frisian: salm
• Yiddish: לאַקס m (laks)
• Yurok: nepuy

colour

• Bulgarian: оранжево-розов (oranževo-rozov)
• Catalan: salmó (ca) m
• Czech: lososová (cs) f
• Dutch: zalmkleur (nl) f
• Finnish: lohenpunainen (fi)
• French: saumon (fr)
• Galician: salmón (gl) m
• German: lachsfarben (de), lachsfarbig, lachsrot (de), lachsrosa (de)
• Hungarian: lazacszín
• Icelandic: laxbleikur litur m
• Indonesian: bangbang
• Interlingua: salmon (ia)
• Italian: salmone (it) m
• Macedonian: розово-портокалова f (rozovo-portokalova)
• Portuguese: salmão (pt) m
• Russian: оранжево-ро́зовый цвет (oranževo-rózovyj cvet), сомон (ru) (somon)
• Slovak: lososová f
• Spanish: salmón (es) m
• Turkish: somon (tr)
• Volapük: salmaköl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} salmon (id)

Adjective

salmon (not comparable)

1. Having a pale pinkish-orange colour.
   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 155:

     Smiley and Guillam perched disconsolately beneath it, on a bench of salmon velvet.

Translations

colour

• Catalan: salmó (ca), salmonat
• Dutch: zalmkleurig (nl), zalmkleurige (nl)
• Finnish: lohenpunainen (fi)
• German: lachsfarben (de)
• Hungarian: lazacszínű (hu)
• Icelandic: laxbleikur
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} de color salmon
• Macedonian: розовопорто́калов m (rozovoportókalov)
• Polish: łososiowy (pl)
• Portuguese: salmão (pt)
• Russian: оранжево-ро́зовый (oranževo-rózovyj)
• Spanish: asalmonado, salmón (es)
• Volapük: salmakölik

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Basque: (1) ^{(please verify)} izokinezko, (2) ^{(please verify)} izokin koloreko

Verb

salmon (third-person singular simple present salmons, present participle salmoning, simple past and past participle salmoned)

1. (slang, intransitive) 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."

See also

• (reds) red; blood red, brick red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnation, cerise, cherry, cherry red, Chinese red, cinnabar, claret, crimson, damask, fire brick, fire engine red, flame, flamingo, fuchsia, garnet, geranium, gules, hot pink, incarnadine, Indian red, magenta, maroon, misty rose, nacarat, oxblood, pillar-box red, pink, Pompeian red, poppy, raspberry, red violet, rose, rouge, ruby, ruddy, salmon, sanguine, scarlet, shocking pink, stammel, strawberry, Turkey red, Venetian red, vermilion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine ^{(Category: en:Reds)}

• alevin
• anadromous
• arctic char
• blackfish
• coarse fish
• gravlax
• grilse
• kelt
• kipper
• lox
• parr
• redfish
• smolt
• sockeye
• trout
• yolk fry

Anagrams

• monals, Lomans, Lamson, Almons, Lamons, Malson, Sloman

Cebuano

Etymology

From English salmon, from Middle English samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. For the jackfish, see Hawaiian salmon.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: sal‧mon

Noun

salmon

1. salmon; any of several fish in the subfamily Salmoninae
2. rainbow runner (Elagatis bipinnulata)

Esperanto

Noun

salmon

1. accusative singular of salmo

Friulian

Noun

salmon m (plural salmons)

1. salmon

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese salmão.

Noun

salmon

1. rainbow runner, Elagatis bipinnulata

References

• Gonçalves, Manuel (2015) Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN

Middle English

Noun

salmon

1. Alternative form of samoun

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /salˈmuŋ/

Noun

salmon m

1. salmon

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish salmón.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /salˈmon/ [sɐlˈmon̪]
• Rhymes: -on
• Syllabification: sal‧mon

Noun

salmón (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜎ᜔ᜋᜓᜈ᜔)

1. salmon (fish)
2. salmon (color/colour)

Further reading

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