salsa
/ˈsɑl.sə/noun, verb
salsa is spelled S-A-L-S-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, salsa means “A spicy tomato sauce of Mexican origin, often including onions and hot peppers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of salsa is salsas.
How many letters and syllables are in salsa?
| Letters | 5: S-A-L-S-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th 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 salsa?
Salsa appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th 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 salsa?
- US /ˈsɑl.sə/
- UK /ˈsæl.sə/
Salsa 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-salsa.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with salsa?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as salsa from its last stressed vowel (/ɑlsə/):
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 salsa
- salsas plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- salsaing participle, present
- salsaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does salsa mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A spicy tomato sauce of Mexican origin, often including onions and hot peppers.
- 2
A style of urban music originally from New York heavily influenced by Cuban dance music, jazz and rock.
- 3
Any of several dances performed to salsa music.
verb
- 1
To dance the salsa.
They salsaed late until the night.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Salsa in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sauce salsa, salsa |
| Spanish | salsa mexicana, salsa picante, salsita, salsa para/de totopostes/totopos |
| Portuguese | salsa |
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 salsa come from?
Borrowed from Spanish salsa (“sauce”), from Latin salsus (“salted”), whence also the doublet sauce (via Old French).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).