One entry found for salary.
Main Entry: sal·a·ry
Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
Etymology: Middle English salarie "money paid to a worker," from Latin salarium "salt money, pension, salary," derived from sal "salt" : money paid at regular times for work or services : STIPEND Word History Salt was a very valuable substance in ancient times. In addition to being used to flavor food, it was also used to keep foods from spoiling. Because of its importance, soldiers in the Roman army were given a special sum of money with which to buy salt for themselves. The Latin word for "salt" was sal, and the "salt money" given to the soldiers was called salarium. Salarium later came to be used for the regular pension or salary paid to the soldiers. Still later it was used for payments made to officials of the empire. The English word salary comes from the Latin salarium.