See Also: salmon(encyclopedia)
salmon(2)(dictionary)
salmon(1)(dictionary)
sea salmon(medicine)
salmon(medicine)
Salmon Air(tourism)
salmon(dictionary)
Salmon Dip(recipes)
Baked Salmon(recipes)
Surfin' Salmon(recipes)

salmon(2) (iou)



salmon noun1 & adjective. ME.
[Anglo-Norman sa(u)moun, Old & mod. French saumon from Latin salmo(n-).]
A. noun. Pl. same, -s: see note below.
1. Any of various large migratory fishes of the family Salmonidae having pink flesh and much esteemed as game-fish and food; the flesh of any of these as food; esp. (a) (also Atlantic salmon) Salmo salar; (b) (more fully Pacific salmon) any fish of the genus Oncorhynchus. ME.
Chinook salmon, chum salmon, humpback salmon, silver salmon, sockeye salmon, etc.
b. Any of various fishes resembling the true salmons but not related to them, esp. (a) US a sciaenid sea trout of the genus Cynoscion; also = pikeperch s.v. PIKE noun3; (b) Austral. & NZ. = Australian salmon s.v. AUSTRALIAN adjective; also = threadfin (a) s.v. THREAD noun. L18.
2. The colour of the flesh of salmon; a yellowish- or orange-pink colour. L19.
Comb.: salmon bass S. Afr. = KABELJOU; salmonberry N. Amer. any of several pink-fruited N. American brambles, esp. the pink-flowered R. spectabilis; the fruit of such a shrub; salmon-coloured adjective of salmon colour; salmon disease (a) an infectious skin disease of salmon etc., freq. with secondary fungal infection; also called ulcerative dermal necrosis; (b) = salmon poisoning below; salmon fry: see FRY noun1 1; salmon ladder a fish ladder for use by migrating salmon etc.; salmon leap a stony slope or cascade in a river up which salmon etc. leap to swim further upstream; salmon louse = gill maggot s.v. GILL noun1; salmon pass = salmon ladder above; salmon peal: see PEAL noun2; salmon-pink the light pink colour of salmon flesh; salmon poisoning a fatal disease of dogs on the Pacific coast of N. America, caused by rickettsias present in flukes infesting ingested salmon; salmon run a migration of salmon up a river from the sea; salmon stair = salmon ladder above; salmon trout = sea trout (a) s.v. SEA; any of various similar fishes, esp. (a) US the rainbow trout; (b) US the N. American lake trout; (c) Austral. the Australian salmon.
B. attrib. or as adjective. Of the colour of the flesh of salmon; light yellowish- or orange-pink. L18.
S. Minot Tennis hats and faded salmon shorts.
? The pl. -s is now used only techn. to denote different species of salmon.
salmonet noun (now rare or obsolete) a young salmon L16.
salmonid noun & adjective (a) noun a fish of the family Salmonidae, which includes salmon and trout; (b) adjective of, pertaining to, or designating this family: M19.
salmoniform adjective of or resembling the salmons; spec. of or belonging to the order Salmoniformes to which the family Salmonidae belongs L19.
salmonoid ['sal-] noun & adjective (a) noun a fish of the family Salmonidae or the superfamily Salmonoidea; (b) adjective of or resembling the salmons; spec. of or belonging to this family or superfamily: M19.
salmony adjective somewhat salmon-coloured M20.