salmon
/ˈsæmən/noun, adjective, verb
salmon is spelled S-A-L-M-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, salmon means “One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of salmon is salmons.
How many letters and syllables are in salmon?
| Letters | 6: S-A-L-M-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is salmon?
Salmon appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce salmon?
- UK /ˈsæmən/
- US /ˈsæmən/
- US [ˈsɛəmən]
Salmon has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-salmon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with salmon?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as salmon from its last stressed vowel (/æmən/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of salmon
- salmons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- salmoning participle, present
- salmoned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does salmon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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
- 2
A meal or dish made from this fish.
- 3
A pale pinkish-orange colour, the colour of cooked salmon.
- 4
The upper bricks in a kiln which receive the least heat.
- 5
slangsnout (tobacco; from salmon and trout)
- 6
canned fish, usually mackerel.
adjective
- 1
Having a pale pinkish-orange colour.
verb
- 1
slangTo ride a bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Salmon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | saumon |
| German | Lachs, Salm , lachsfarben, lachsfarbig, lachsrot, lachsrosa |
| Portuguese | salmão |
| Spanish | salmón , asalmonado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does salmon come from?
From Middle English samoun, samon, saumon, from Anglo-Norman saumon, from Old French saumon, from Latin salmō, salmōn-. Widely displaced native Middle English lax, from Old English leax (whence modern dialectal lax). 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).