What does sel in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word sel in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use sel in French.

The word sel in French means salt, bath salt, spice, smelling salts, have salt and pepper hair, slightly salted butter, salt crust, slightly salted, slightly salted cream cheese, slightly salted butter, hydrochloric acid, fleur de sel, salt store, coarse salt, put in your two pennies, put in your two pennies' worth, put in your two penn'orth, salt mine, salt dough, salt-and-pepper, salt-free diet, salt free, unsalted, bile salt, Epsom salt, cooking salt, the salt of the earth, sea salt, table salt, rock salt, mineral salt. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word sel

salt

nom masculin (exhausteur de goût)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
On doit toujours proposer du sel et du poivre à table.
You should always offer salt and pepper at the dinner table.

bath salt

nom masculin (produit colorant et ou odorant) (usually plural)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Marie aime les sels de bain !
Marie loves bath salts!

spice

nom masculin (figuré (piquant, intérêt) (figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Cette situation ne manque pas de sel !
This situation doesn't lack spice!

smelling salts

nom masculin pluriel (substance olfactive pour ranimer)

(plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors.")
Au XIXe siècle, on réanimait les dames avec des sels.
In the 19th century, ladies were brought round with smelling salts.

have salt and pepper hair

locution verbale (avoir des cheveux grisonnants) (figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

slightly salted butter

nom masculin (beurre légèrement salé) (dairy product: UK)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le beurre demi-sel se mange souvent avec des crudités.

salt crust

nom féminin (enveloppe faite en sel)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

slightly salted

adjectif invariable (légèrement salé)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Le beurre demi-sel accompagne bien les fruits de mer.

slightly salted cream cheese

nom masculin invariable (fromage gras et frais)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le demi-sel est un fromage au lait cru du pays de Bray.

slightly salted butter

nom masculin invariable (beurre légèrement salé)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ce demi-sel fait un excellent caramel.

hydrochloric acid

nom masculin (figuré (acide chlorhydrique) (chemical)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
L'esprit de sel est très soluble dans l'eau.

fleur de sel

nom féminin (sel le plus pur)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les paludiers ramassent la fleur de sel dans les marais salants.
Salt cultivators collect fleur de sel in the salt marshes.

salt store

nom masculin (lieu de stockage du sel)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

coarse salt

nom masculin (sel broyé gros)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

put in your two pennies, put in your two pennies' worth, put in your two penn'orth

locution verbale (figuré, familier, péjoratif (intervenir dans une affaire) (UK, figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

salt mine

nom féminin (lieu d'extraction du sel)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Si tu vas à Cracovie, ne rate pas la mine de sel de Wieliczka.

salt dough

nom féminin (pâte maléable faite de farine et de sel)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les enfants font des modelages en pâte à sel à la maternelle.

salt-and-pepper

(cheveux : grisonnant) (hair)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Mon père a des cheveux couleur poivre et sel.

salt-free diet

nom masculin (alimentation sans sodium)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

salt free, unsalted

locution adjectivale (sans adjonction de sel)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")

bile salt

nom masculin (acide de la bile) (digestion)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Epsom salt

nom masculin (sulfate de magnésium) (mineral)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

cooking salt

nom masculin (sel alimentaire)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Gros sel et fleur de sel sont des sels de cuisine.

the salt of the earth

nom masculin (littéraire (parabole biblique sur les vertus) (Biblical, figurative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

sea salt

nom masculin (sel marin)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

table salt

nom masculin (sel alimentaire)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le sel fin est le sel de table le plus courant.

rock salt

nom masculin (sel issu de mines)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le sel gemme est non iodé contrairement au sel marin.

mineral salt

nom masculin (substance ionique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le sel minéral est une substance provenant de roches qui entrent dans la composition des organismes et qui sont présents dans l'alimentation animale et végétale. Le calcium est un sel minéral.

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of sel in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.