# sauce

> English word · Noun · IPA /sɔːs/ · frequency rank #4,330

## Definitions
1. A liquid (often thickened) condiment or accompaniment to food.
2. Tomato sauce (similar to US tomato ketchup), as in
3. Alcohol, booze.
4. Vitality; capability or talent.
5. Anabolic steroids.
6. A soft crayon for use in stump drawing or in shading with the stump.
7. Cheek; impertinence; backtalk; sass.
8. Vegetables.
9. Any garden vegetables eaten with meat.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English sauce, from Old French sause, from Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), past participle of saliō (“to salt”), from sal. Doublet of salsa.
For the meaning development compare Ancient Greek ἥδυσμα (hḗdusma) ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (whence also English sweet).

## Easily confused with
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-sue)
- **such** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-such)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-sure)
- **save** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-save)
- **suck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-suck)
- **Saul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-saul)
- **since** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-since)
- **space** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-space)
- **stuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-stuck)
- **Saudi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-saudi)
- **slice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-slice)
- **spice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-spice)
- **snuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-snuck)
- **sauna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-sauna)
- **saucy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-saucy)
- **sault** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-sault)
- **Sauer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-sauer)
- **source** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-source)
- **stance** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-stance)
- **scarce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sauce-vs-scarce)

## Common misspellings (6)
`asuce`, `sacue`, `saucce`, `sauec`, `ssauce`, `suace`

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