saltcellar vs. cellar
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2023 9:38 pm
by bbeeton
What, if anything, does the "cellar" in "saltcellar" have to do with the "cellar" as basement or wine (or root, or storm) cellar? In the latter sense, "cellar" also functions as a verb, denoting the activity of storing something, perhaps for aging, in that underground area.
Re: saltcellar vs. cellar
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 3:55 pm
by brogine
Sez the OED:
‘Cellar’ is a corruption of ‘saler,’ an obsolete word for none other than ‘salt cellar.’ That being a borrowing from the French ‘salière,’ that going right back - as you’ve now guessed - to the Latin for ‘salt.’
P.S. As is probably unnecessary to point out, the French word is formed with application of a familiar suffix. Bakery, boulangerie, panadería,
et cetera and how.
P.P.S. As to the more common meaning of ‘cellar,’ its origin is from another quarter altogether, related to ‘cell.’