salmon

[sam-uhn]

noun

plural

salmons ,

plural

salmon .

1. a marine and freshwater food fish, Salmo salar, of the family Salmonidae, having pink flesh, inhabiting waters off the North Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America near the mouths of large rivers, which it enters to spawn.

2. landlocked salmon.

3. any of several salmonoid food fishes of the genus Oncorhynchus, inhabiting the North Pacific Ocean.

4. a light yellowish-pink.

adjective

1. of the color salmon.

salmon

/ ˈsæmən /

noun

1. any soft-finned fish of the family Salmonidae, esp Salmo salar of the Atlantic and Oncorhynchus species (sockeye, Chinook, etc) of the Pacific, which are important food fishes. They occur in cold and temperate waters and many species migrate to fresh water to spawn

2. any of several unrelated fish, esp the Australian salmon

3. short for salmon pink

Other Word Forms

• salmonlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of salmon¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English salmoun, samoun, from Anglo-French from Old French saumon, or directly from Latin salmōn-, stem of salmō

Word History and Origins

Origin of salmon¹

C13: from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō; related to Late Latin salar trout

Example Sentences

The exterior walls are his signature salmon pink and the toilets are almost a century old.

From Los Angeles Times

The group continued to move the fish in the evening and the following morning finding species including salmon, trout and stickleback.

From BBC

Whilst bears are generally solitary, this one was heading to feast with others on the glut of sockeye salmon migrating upriver from the Pacific to their origin lake to spawn.

From BBC

Born in Seattle, Kawahara was a professional fisherman who focused on salmon, albacore tuna and halibut.

From Los Angeles Times

We do buy salmon, however, and that is already seeing the effects of markets being distorted and trade redirected.

From BBC

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