# salsa

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɑl.sə/ · frequency rank #14,406

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *séh₂ls
Borrowed from Spanish salsa (“sauce”), from Latin salsus (“salted”), whence also the doublet sauce (via Old French).

## Easily confused with
- **SAS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sas)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-ssa)
- **SLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sla)
- **says** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-says)
- **salt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-salt)
- **Sara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sara)
- **sans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sans)
- **sash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sash)
- **SATA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sata)
- **SARS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sars)
- **sass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sass)
- **Sosa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sosa)
- **sola** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sola)
- **saya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-saya)
- **Santa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-santa)
- **seals** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-seals)
- **silva** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-silva)
- **salty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-salty)
- **Sasha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-sasha)
- **Salts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salsa-vs-salts)

## Common misspellings (6)
`aslsa`, `sallsa`, `salssa`, `sasla`, `slasa`, `ssalsa`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/salsa