Origin of the Word Salary

Salary can be defined as a fixed amount of money or compensation paid periodically to an employee by an employer in return for the work performed.

It is said that, ‘salary’ is related the word ‘salt.’ Salt is regarded as essential for life in general and is one of the basic tastes. During the 6th century, in the sub-Sahara region, Moorish merchants routinely traded ‘salt ounce’ for ounce for gold. In Abyssinia, slabs of rock salt, called 'amôlés, became the coin of the realm. Each one of such coin was about ten inches long and two inches thick. Cakes of salt were also used as money in other areas of central Africa too.

It is maintained that the Latin word ‘salarium’ is derived from the word ‘sal’ (salt) because at some point a soldier's salary may have been an allowance for the purchase of salt. Whatever may be the case, the ‘salarium’ paid to Roman soldiers has defined a form of work-for-hire.

In ancient Rome, the production and transport of bulk quantity of salt were considered as a serious business. Roman soldiers were used to guarding the operations, or to expand and conquer new salt sources. In those days, the Roman warriors serving the empire were paid with a handful of salt each day for their own use. Later, it was felt that the transport and preservation of the huge

quantity of salt create practical problems. Hence, the reward of salt was replaced by a sum of money to purchase items of their choice, including salt. The money thus received was referred to as their 'salarium' or salt-money and the term salarium took an entry into the English language and gradually modified to modern day salary.