Word for Wednesday: Salary 

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A salary is a regular payment made by an employer to an employee. Though a salary is usually paid in monthly instalments, it is referred to as an annual sum.

Here is salary used in some example sentences: 

  •  Her first job after university had a salary of £18000. 
  • She used a calculator to work out her take-home salary. 
  • Her pension contributions came straight out of her salary.
  • She was looking for a salaried role.

Salary dates to the late-thirteenth century and entered English via the Old French ‘salaire’. The word comes from the Latin ‘salarium’ which means ‘allowance’ or ‘stipend’ – or, originally, ‘salt-money’ in reference to the allowance a Roman soldier was given to buy salt (‘sal’ in Latin). 

Salt was considered a valuable commodity due to its uses as an antiseptic and food preserver. It was also sometimes used as a method of payment. Even today, the expression ‘worth one’s salt’ is used to describe someone who is very good at what they do (and deserving of the payment they receive). 


05 Feb 2020
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