Online Etymology Dictionary

salmagundi (n.): 1670s, from French salmigondis, originally "seasoned salt meats" (cf. French salmis "salted meats"), from Middle French salmigondin, coined by Rabelais, of uncertain origin, but probably related to salomene "hodgepodge of meats or fish cooked in wine," (early 14c.), from Old French salemine.
salmon (n.): c.1200, from Old French salmun, from Latin salmonem (nominative salmo) "a salmon," possibly originally "leaper," from salire "to leap," though some dismiss this as folk etymology. Another theory traces it to Celtic. Replaced Old English læx, from PIE *lax, the more usual word for the fish (see lox).
salmonella (n.): 1913, the genus name, coined 1900 in Modern Latin by J. Lignières in reference to U.S. veterinary surgeon Daniel E. Salmon (1850-1914), who isolated a type of the bacteria in 1885.
Salome: fem. proper name, from Late Latin, from Greek Salome, related to Salomon (see Solomon).
salon (n.): 1690s, "large room or apartment in a palace or great house," from French salon "reception room," from Italian salone "large hall," from sala "hall," from a Germanic source (cf. Old English sele, Old Norse salr "hall," Old High German sal "hall, house," German Saal), from Proto-Germanic *salaz, from PIE *sel- "human settlement" (cf. Old Church Slavonic selo "courtyard, village," Lithuanian sala "village").

Sense of "reception room of a Parisian lady" is from 1810; meaning "gathering of fashionable people" first recorded 1888 (the woman who hosts one is a salonnière). Meaning "annual exhibition of contemporary paintings and sculpture in Paris" is from its originally being held in one of the salons of the Louvre. Meaning "establishment for hairdressing and beauty care" is from 1913.
saloon (n.): 1728, anglicized form of salon, and originally used interchangeable with it. Meaning large hall in a public place (especially a passenger boat) is from c.1835, also used of railway cars furnished like drawing rooms. Sense of "public bar" developed by 1841, American English.
salsa (n.): kind of sauce, 1846; kind of dance, 1975, from Spanish, literally "sauce," from Vulgar Latin *salsa "condiment" (see sauce). In American Spanish especially used of a kind of relish with chopped-up ingredients; the music so called from its blend of Latin jazz and rock styles.
salsify (n.): biennial plant, 1670s, from French salsifis, earlier sercifi, sassify (16c.), probably from Italian erba salsifica, from Old Italian salsifica, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Latin sal "salt" + fricare "to rub."
SALT: Cold War U.S.-U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons negotiations, 1968, acronym for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The last element sometimes also is understood as treaty.
salt (n.): Old English sealt (noun and adjective), from Proto-Germanic *saltom (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Gothic salt, Dutch zout, German Salz), from PIE *sal- "salt" (cf. Greek hals "salt, sea," Latin sal, Old Church Slavonic soli, Old Irish salann, Welsh halen, Old Church Slavonic sali "salt").

Meaning "experienced sailor" is first attested 1840, in reference to the salinity of the sea. Salt was long regarded as having power to repel spiritual and magical evil. Many metaphoric uses reflect that this was once a rare and important resource, e.g. worth one's salt (1830), salt of the earth (Old English, after Matt. v:13). Belief that spilling salt brings bad luck is attested from 16c. To be above (or below) the salt (1590s) refers to customs of seating at a long table according to rank or honor, and placing a large salt-cellar in the middle of the dining table.

Salt-lick first recorded 1751; salt marsh is Old English sealtne mersc. Salt-and-pepper "of dark and light color" first recorded 1915. To take something with a grain of salt is from 1640s, from Modern Latin cum grano salis. Saltine "salted cracker" is from 1907.
salt (v.): Old English sealtan, from Proto-Germanic *salto- (see salt (n.)). Related: Salted; salting.
salt river (n.): a tidal river, 1650s; as a proper name, used early 19c. with reference to backwoods inhabitants of the U.S., especially Kentucky. U.S. political slang phrase to row (someone) up Salt River "send (someone) to political defeat" probably owes its origin to this, as the first attested use (1828) is in a Kentucky context.
salt water: Old English sealtera watera. As an adjective from 1520s. Salt-water taffy attested by 1886; so called because it originally was sold at seashore resorts, especially Atlantic City, N.J. (see taffy).
saltation (n.): 1620s, from Latin saltationem, noun of action from past participle stem of saltare (see saute).
saltbox (n.): "receptacle for keeping salt for domestic use," 1610s, from salt (n.) + box (n.). As a type of frame house, 1876, so called from resemblance of shape.
saltcellar (n.): mid-15c., from salt (n.) + Anglo-Norm. *saler "saltcellar" (14c.), from Old French salier "salt box," from Latin salarium, from a diminutive of Latin sal "salt." As the connection between *saler and "salt" was lost, salt- was tacked on to the beginning; second element altered on model of cellar.
saltire (n.): c.1400, an ordinary on a shield or flag like a St. Andrew's Cross, from Middle French saultoir, literally "stirrup," from Medieval Latin saltatorium, properly neuter of Latin saltatorius "pertaining to leaping," from salire "to leap" (see salient). The connection between a stirrup and the diagonal cross is perhaps the two deltoid shapes that comprise the cross.
saltpeter (n.): "potassium nitrate," c.1500, earlier salpetre (early 14c.), from Old French salpetre, from Medieval Latin sal petrae "salt of rock," from Latin sal "salt" (see salt) + petra "rock, stone" (see petrous). So called because it looks like salt encrusted on rock.
saltpetre (n.): chiefly British English spelling of saltpeter (q.v.).
salty (adj.): mid-15c., "tasting of salt, impregnated with salt," from salt (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "racy" is from 1866, from salt in the sense of "that which gives life or pungency" (1570s, originally of words or wit). U.S. slang sense of "angry, irritated" is first attested 1938, especially in phrase jump salty "to unexpectedly become enraged."
salubrious (adj.): 1540s, from Latin salubris "promoting health, healthful," from salus (genitive salutis) "welfare, health" (see salute).
salud: Spanish, literally "(good) health;" first attested in English 1938, in Hemingway.
salutary (adj.): late 15c., from Middle French salutaire "beneficial," from Latin salutaris "healthful," from salus (genitive salutis) "good health" (see salute).
salutation (n.): late 14c., from Old French salutacion, from Latin salutationem (nominative salutatio), from salutatus, past participle of salutare "to greet" (see salute). As a word of greeting (eliptical for "I offer salutation") it is recorded from 1530s. Related: Salutations.
salutatorian (n.): 1847, from adjective salutatory (1660s), "of the nature of a salutation," in the specific sense "designating the welcoming address given at a college commencement" (1702, the address usually in Latin), from Latin salutatorius "pertaining to visiting or greeting," from salut-, past participle stem of salutare "to greet" (see salute).
salutatory (adj.): 1895; see salutation + -ory.
salute (v.): late 14c., earlier salue (c.1300), from Latin salutare "to greet," literally "wish health to," from salus (genitive salutis) "greeting, good health," related to salvus "safe" (see safe). The noun is attested from c.1400 as an utterance, gesture, or action of any kind. The military and nautical sense of "display flags, fire cannons, etc., as a mark of respect" is recorded from 1580s (the noun in this sense is from 1690s); sense of raising the hand to the cap in the presence of a superior officer is from 1832 (n.), 1844 (v.).
salvage (n.): 1640s, "payment for saving a ship from wreck or capture," from French salvage, from Old French salver "to save" (see save). The general sense of "the saving of property from danger" is attested from 1878. Meaning "recycling of waste material" is from 1918, from the British effort in World War I. The verb is 1889, from the noun. Related: Salvaged; salvaging.
salvageable (adj.): by 1915, from salvage + -able.
salvation (n.): early 13c., originally in the Christian sense, from Old French salvaciun, from Late Latin salvationem (nominative salvatio, a Church Latin translation of Greek soteria), noun of action from salvare "to save" (see save). In general (non-religious) sense, attested from late 14c. Meaning "source of salvation" is from late 14c. Salvation Army is from 1878, founded by the Rev. William Booth. The verb salve "to save from loss at sea" (1706) is a back-formation.
salve (n.): Old English sealf "healing ointment," from West Germanic *salbo- "oily substance" (cf. Old Saxon salba, Middle Dutch salve, Dutch zalf, Old High German salba, German salbe "ointment"), from PIE *solpa-, from root *selp- "fat, butter" (cf. Greek elpos "fat, oil," Sanskrit sarpis "melted butter"). The figurative sense of "something to soothe wounded pride, etc." is from 1736.
salve (v.): Old English sealfian "anoint (a wound) with salve," from Proto-Germanic *salbojanan (cf. Dutch zalven, German salben, Gothic salbon "to anoint"), from the root of salve (n.). Related: Salved; salving.
salver (n.): 1660s, "tray," formed in English on the model of platter, etc., from French salve "tray used for presenting objects to the king," from Spanish salva "a testing of food or drink" to test for poison (a procedure known as pre-gustation), hence "tray on which food was placed to show it was safe to eat," from salvar "to save, render safe," from Late Latin salvare (see save).
salvia (n.): 1844, from Latin salvia "sage" (see sage (n.)).
salvific (adj.): 1590s, from Latin salvificus "saving," from salvus (see safe (adj.)).
salvo (n.): 1719, alteration of salva (1590s) "simultaneous discharge of guns," from Italian salva "salute, volley" (cf. French salve, from Italian), from Latin salve "hail!," literally "be in good health!," the usual Roman greeting, regarded as imperative of salvere "to be in good health," but properly vocative of salvus "healthy" (see safe (adj.)). The notion is of important visitors greeted with a volley of gunfire into the air.
SAM: 1958, acronym for surface to air missile.
Sam Browne: type of belt with shoulder strap, 1915, from Sir Samuel James Browne (1824-1901), British general who invented it.
Sam Hill: euphemism for "Hell," 1839, American English, of unknown origin.
samadhi (n.): "intense esoteric meditation through yoga," 1795, from Sanskrit samadhi-, literally "a putting or joining together," from sam- "together" + a- "toward" + stem of dadhati "puts, places" (see factitious).
samara (n.): dried fruit of certain trees, from Latin samara "the seed of the elm," perhaps from Gaulish.
Samaria: from Greek Samareia, from Aramaic Shamerayin, ultimately from Hebrew Shomeron, from Shemer, name of the owner who sold the site to King Omri (cf. 1 Kings xvi:24).
Samaritan (n.): Old English, "inhabitant of Samaria," a district of Palestine, from Late Latin Samaritanus, from Greek Samareia (see Samaria). Figurative use with reference to the good Samaritan is first recorded 1630s, from Luke x:33.
Samarra: city in north-central Iraq; phrase an appointment in Samarra indicating the inevitability of death is from an old Arabic tale (first in English apparently in W. Somerset Maugham's play "Sheppey," 1933), in which a man encunters Death (with a surprised look on his bony face) one day in the marketplace in Baghdad; he flees in terror and by dusk has reached Samarra. Death takes him there, and, when questioned, replies, "I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."
samba (n.): Brazilian dance of African origin, 1885, Zemba, from Portuguese samba, shortened form of zambacueca, a type of dance, probably altered (by influence of zamacueco "stupid") from zambapalo, the name of a grotesque dance, itself an alteration of zampapalo "stupid man," from zamparse "to bump, crash."
Sambo (n.2): stereotypical name for male black person (now only derogatory), 1818, American English, probably a different word from sambo (n.1); like many such words (Cuffy, Rastus, etc.) a common personal name among U.S. blacks in the slavery days (first attested 1704 in Boston), probably from an African source, cf. Foulah sambo "uncle," or a similar Hausa word meaning "second son."

It could be used without conscious racism or contempt until circa World War II. When the word fell from polite usage, collateral casualties included the enormously popular children's book "The Story of Little Black Sambo" (by Helen Bannerman), which is about an East Indian child, and the Sambo's Restaurant chain, a U.S. pancake-specialty joint originally opened in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1957 (the name supposedly from a merging of the names of the founders, Sam Battistone and Newell "Bo" Bohnett, but the chain's decor and advertising leaned heavily on the book), which once counted 1,200 units coast-to-coast. Civil rights agitation against it began in 1970s and the chain collapsed, though the original restaurant still is open. Many of the defunct restaurants were taken over by rival Denny's.
sambo (n.1): "person of mixed blood in America and Asia," 1748, perhaps from Spanish zambo "bandy-legged," probably from Latin scambus "bow-legged," from Greek skambos. Used variously in different regions to indicate some mixture of African, European, and Indian blood; common senses were "child of black and Indian parentage" and "offspring of a black and a mulatto."
sambuca (n.): Italian liqueur resembling anisette, 1971, from Italian, from Latin sambucus "elder tree."
same (adj.): perhaps abstracted from Old English swa same "the same as," but more likely from Old Norse same, samr "same," both from Proto-Germanic *samon (cf. Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic sama, Old High German samant, German samt "together, with," Gothic samana "together," Dutch zamelen "to collect," German zusammen "together"), from PIE *samos "same," from root *sem- "one, together" (cf. Sanskrit samah "even, level, similar, identical;" Avestan hama "similar, the same;" Greek hama "together with, at the same time," homos "one and the same," homios "like, resembling," homalos "even;" Latin similis "like;" Old Irish samail "likeness;" Old Church Slavonic samu "himself").

Old English had lost the pure form of the word; the modern word replaced synonymous ilk. Colloquial phrase same here as an exclamation of agreement is from 1895. Same difference curious way to say "equal," is attested from 1945.
sameness (n.): 1660s, from same + -ness.