"Attic salt" meaning in English

See Attic salt in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈatɪk sɔːlt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈatɪk sɒlt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈætɪk sɑlt/ [General-American], /ˈætɪk sɔlt/ [General-American], /-ɾɪk/ [General-American] Audio: en-au-Attic salt.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Attic + salt; a calque of Latin sāl Atticus or sāl Atticum. In classical times “salt” was a frequent metaphor for “wit”. Etymology templates: {{B.C.E.}} B.C.E., {{m|en|Attic}} Attic, {{m|en|salt}} salt, {{calque|en|la|sāl Atticus|nocap=1}} calque of Latin sāl Atticus, {{m|la|sāl Atticum}} sāl Atticum Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} Attic salt (uncountable)
  1. (idiomatic) Pointed and delicate wit. Wikipedia link: Demosthenes, Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ Tags: idiomatic, uncountable Categories (topical): Rhetoric Translations (pointed and delicate wit): Attisch zout [neuter] (Dutch), attikalainen suola (Finnish), sel attique [masculine] (French), sal ático [masculine] (Galician), attisches Salz [neuter] (German), Αττικόν άλας (Attikón álas) (Greek), attikai só (Hungarian), elmésség (Hungarian), élc (Hungarian), szellemesség (Hungarian), sāl Atticum [masculine] (Latin), sāl Atticus [masculine] (Latin), نمك (nemek) (Ottoman Turkish), sal ático [masculine] (Portuguese)

Download JSON data for Attic salt meaning in English (5.7kB)

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          "text": "His [Lucan's] wit, ſays Ablancourt, was full of urbanity, that Attic ſalt which the French call fine raillery; not obſcene, not groſs, not rude, but facetious, well-mannered, and well-bred.",
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          "word": "Attisch zout"
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      "code": "nl",
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      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
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      "word": "Attisch zout"
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      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "attikalainen suola"
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      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sel attique"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sal ático"
    },
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      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "attisches Salz"
    },
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      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "Attikón álas",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "Αττικόν άλας"
    },
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      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "attikai só"
    },
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      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "elmésség"
    },
    {
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      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "élc"
    },
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      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "szellemesség"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sāl Atticum"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
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      "word": "sāl Atticus"
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      "lang": "Ottoman Turkish",
      "roman": "nemek",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "word": "نمك"
    },
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      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "pointed and delicate wit",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sal ático"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Attic salt"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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