saliva

See also: salivá, salivă, and Saliva

English

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Latin salīva (“spittle”), replacing or merging with Middle English salive, salve (“saliva”), from the same Latin source. Further origin uncertain. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *salw-, *sal- (“dirt, dirty”), cognate with Old English salu (“dark, dusky”). More at sallow.

Displaced Middle English slaver, slavere ("saliva"; whence Modern English slaver); and Middle English spyttle, spetel, spatel, spotel ("saliva"; whence Modern English spittle, spettle, spattle).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sə-līʹ-və, IPA^(key): /səˈlaɪvə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sa‧li‧va
• Rhymes: -aɪvə

Noun

saliva (countable and uncountable, plural salivas or salivae or salivæ)

2. (physiology) A clear, slightly alkaline liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands, consisting of water, mucin, protein, and enzymes. It moistens the mouth, lubricates ingested food, and begins the breakdown of starches.

   Synonyms: spit, spittle, slobber

Derived terms

• saliva ejector
• saliva gland
• salival
• salivaless
• salivalike
• salivant
• salivary
• salivate
• saliva test
• salivatory
• salivous
• sea saliva

Related terms

• salivation

Translations

liquid secreted into the mouth

• Afrikaans: speeksel
• Agta:

  Dupaningan Agta: ibar

• Albanian: pështymë (sq) f
• Altai:

  Southern Altai: чилекей (čilekey), шилекей (šilekey), тӱкӱрӱк (tükürük)

• Arabic: لُعَاب m (luʕāb), رِيق m (rīq), بُزَاق m (buzāq)

  Egyptian Arabic: لعاب m (luʕāb), ريق m (rīʔ), ريالة f (riyala)

  Gulf Arabic: ريج m (rīj)

• Armenian: թուք (hy) (tʻukʻ)
• Assamese: লালটি (laloti), লেলাউটি (lelauti)
• Asturian: saliva f, cuspita f
• Avar: хӏацӏу (ḥʳacʼu)
• Azerbaijani: tüpürcək
• Bangi: ncoi
• Bashkir: шайыҡ (şayıq), төкөрөк (tökörök), һеләгәй (heləgəy), шеләгәй (şeləgəy)
• Basque: listu, listu
• Belarusian: слі́на f (slína)
• Bengali: লালা (bn) (lala), থুতু (bn) (thutu)
• Bhojpuri: लार (lār)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: liwoy (bcl)

• Breton: halo (br) m
• Bulgarian: слю́нка f (sljúnka), плю́нка f (pljúnka)
• Burmese: လျှာရည် (my) (hlyarany), သွားရည် (my) (swa:rany)
• Catalan: saliva (ca) f
• Chamicuro: sakola
• Cherokee: ᏩᏥᎳ (watsila)
• Chichewa: malovu
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 口水 (hau² seoi²)

  Hokkien: 瀾 / 澜 (zh-min-nan) (nuā)

  Mandarin: 口水 (zh) (kǒushuǐ), 唾液 (zh) (tuòyè), 唾沫 (zh) (tuòmo), 口涎 (zh) (kǒuxián), 涎水 (zh) (xiánshuǐ), 吐沫 (zh) (tùmo)

• Chuvash: сӗлеке (sĕlek̬e)
• Crimean Tatar: silekiy, salya, tükürşük
• Czech: slina (cs) f

  Old Czech: slina f

• Danish: spyt (da) n
• Dhivehi: ކުޅު (kuḷu)
• Dutch: speeksel (nl) n
• Dzongkha: ཁ་ཆུ (kha chu)
• Esperanto: salivo
• Estonian: sülg
• Even: дялса (ʒalsa)
• Evenki: дяликса (ʒaliksa)
• Faroese: ráki m, spýtt n, sputt n
• Finnish: sylki (fi)
• French: salive (fr) f
• Galician: cuspe (gl) m
• Georgian: ნერწყვი (nerc̣q̇vi)
• German: Speichel (de) m
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍀𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐍂 n (spaiskuldr)
• Greek: σίελος (el) m (síelos), σάλιο (el) n (sálio)

  Ancient Greek: σίαλον n (síalon)

• Haitian Creole: saliv
• Hebrew: רוק \ רֹק (he) m (rok)
• Hindi: लार (hi) f (lār), राल (hi) f (rāl)
• Hinukh: йоцӏу (yoc’u)
• Hungarian: nyál (hu)
• Icelandic: slef n, munnvatn m
• Indonesian: air ludah (id), air liur (id), ludah (id), liur (id)
• Irish: seile f

  Old Irish: saile m or n

• Italian: saliva (it) f
• Japanese: 唾 (ja) (つばき, tsubakí, つば, tsuba), 唾液 (ja) (だえき, daeki)
• Javanese: idu, iler (jv), kecoh

  Old Javanese: idu

• Kalmyk: шүлсн (şülsn)
• Kazakh: сілекей (sılekei)
• Khmer: ទឹកមាត់ (tɨk mŏət)
• Khvarshi: йуцу (yucu)
• Kongo: meti
• Korean: 침 (ko) (chim)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لیک (lîk)

  Northern Kurdish: tûk (ku) f, lîk (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: шилекей (ky) (şilekey)
• Lao: ນ້ຳລາຍ (nam lāi)
• Latgalian: slīkys, seilys
• Latin: salīva f
• Latvian: siekalas
• Lezgi: цуькIуьн (cükIün)
• Lingala: nsoi
• Lithuanian: seilės f pl
• Lombard: spua (lmo) f
• Macedonian: плу́нка f (plúnka), плу́канка f (plúkanka)
• Maguindanao: duda
• Maltese: bżieq m
• Manchu: ᠴᡳᡶᡝᠩᡤᡠ (cifenggu)
• Māori: hāware, hūare, hūware, paraki
• Maranao: ayog, doda'
• Mohawk: ótskeriʼ
• Mongolian: шүлс (mn) (šüls)
• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: lèih

• Nahuatl: camacuitlatl
• Nanai: дилокса (ʒiloksa)
• Navajo: shééʼ
• Nogai: силекей (silekey)
• Norman: êcopi ?
• Norwegian: spytt (no) n
• Occitan: saliva (oc) f
• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Pacoh: avia, daq avia
• Paicî: erepwä
• Pashto: زيړې f (zyaṛé), ښيالمې f (x̌yãlme)
• Persian: بزاق (fa) (bozâq), گلیز (fa) (geliz)
• Plautdietsch: Kjwiel n, Spie m
• Polish: ślina (pl) f
• Portuguese: saliva (pt) f
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਰਾਲ਼ f (rāḷ)

  Shahmukhi: رال f (rāl)

• Romanian: salivă (ro) f
• Russian: слюна́ (ru) f (sljuná), слю́нка (ru) f (sljúnka) (diminutive)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: чо̄ллк (čōllk)

  Northern Sami: čolga

• Saurashtra: ꢆꢰ꣄ꢜꣁ (uṣṭo)
• Scottish Gaelic: seile m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сли̏на f

  Latin: slȉna (sh) f

• Sikkimese: ཁ་མཆུ (kha mchu)
• Sinhalese: කෙළ (si) (keḷa)
• Slovak: slina (sk) f

  Old Slovak: slina f

• Slovene: slina (sl) f
• Spanish: saliva (es) f
• Swahili: mate (sw)
• Swedish: spott (sv) n, saliv (sv) c
• Tagalog: lura, laway (tl)
• Tajik: оби даҳан (ob-i dahan)
• Tamil: உமிழ்நீர் (ta) (umiḻnīr), எச்சில் (ta) (eccil), எச்சை (eccai) (colloquial)
• Tarifit: kuffu m
• Tatar: селәгәй (tt) (selägäy)
• Tausug: lura
• Tày: nài, nài slâư
• Telugu: లాలాజలం (te) (lālājalaṁ)
• Thai: น้ำลาย (th) (náam-laai)

  Northern Thai: ᨶ᩶ᩣᩴᩃᩣ᩠ᨿ

• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian B: pitke
• Turkish: salya (tr), tükürük (tr)
• Turkmen: tüýkülik
• Udmurt: дыльды (dyľdy)
• Ukrainian: сли́на f (slýna)
• Urdu: لار f (lār), رال f (rāl)
• Uyghur: شۆلگەي (shölgey)
• Uzbek: sulak (uz), sulakay, tupuk (uz)
• Vietnamese: nước bọt (vi), nước miếng (vi), nước dãi (vi)
• Volapük: salif (vo)
• Welsh: poer m
• Wolof: tëflit, lor (wo)
• Yakut: сил (sil)
• Yiddish: שפּײַעכץ (shpayekhts)
• Yucatec Maya: chi' ch'uulik

Verb

saliva (third-person singular simple present salivas, present participle salivaing, simple past and past participle salivaed)

1. (nonstandard) to salivate

See also

• drool
• sputum

Anagrams

• Alavis, Avilas, Salvia, Slavia, Valais, avails, salvia

Catalan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin salīva. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [səˈli.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [səˈli.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [saˈli.va]

Noun

saliva f (plural salives)

1. saliva

Related terms

• salivar

Further reading

• “saliva”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “saliva” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “saliva” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 2

Verb

saliva

1. inflection of salivar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Esperanto

Etymology

From salivo +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈliva/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iva
• Syllabification: sa‧li‧va

Adjective

saliva

1. salivary

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.li.va/
• Homophones: salivas, salivât

Verb

saliva

1. third-person singular past historic of saliver

Anagrams

• lavais, valais, valsai

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈli.va/
• Rhymes: -iva
• Hyphenation: sa‧lì‧va

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin salīva.

Alternative forms

• scialiva, sciliva

Noun

saliva f (plural salive)

1. (physiology) saliva, spittle, spit

Related terms

• salivare
• salivatorio
• salivazione

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

saliva

1. inflection of salivare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

saliva

1. third-person singular imperfect indicative of salire

Anagrams

• Salvia, lisava, salavi, salvai, salvia, vasali

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *solH- (compare Irish salach (“dirty”), Welsh halog, English sallow, Russian соло́вый (solóvyj, “cream-colored”)). May alternatively be of independent expressive/onomatopoeic origin; compare Ancient Greek σίαλον (síalon).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [saˈliː.wa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [saˈliː.va]

Noun

salīva f (genitive salīvae); first declension

1. spittle, saliva

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	salīva	salīvae
genitive	salīvae	salīvārum
dative	salīvae	salīvīs
accusative	salīvam	salīvās
ablative	salīvā	salīvīs
vocative	salīva	salīvae

Derived terms

• salīvō

Descendants

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: saliva, scialiva, sciliva
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Galician: seiva (archaic)
  • Portuguese: seiva (dialectal)

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: saliva
• → English: saliva
• → French: salive
• → Galician: saliva
• → Occitan: saliva
• → Old Irish: saile (see there for further descendants)
• → Piedmontese: saliva
• → Portuguese: saliva
• → Romanian: salivă
• → Sicilian: saliva
• → Spanish: saliva
• → Swedish: saliv

References

• “saliva”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “saliva”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “saliva”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “saliva”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /saˈli.vɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /saˈli.vɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /saˈli.va/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐˈli.vɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐˈli.vɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐˈli.bɐ/ [sɐˈli.βɐ]

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sa‧li‧va

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin salīva.

Noun

saliva f (plural salivas)

1. saliva, spittle (liquid secreted into the mouth)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

saliva

1. inflection of salivar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “saliva”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “saliva”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French saliver, from Latin salivare.

Verb

a saliva (third-person singular present salivează, past participle salivat) 1st conjugation

1. to salivate

Conjugation

    conjugation of saliva (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a saliva
gerund			salivând
past participle			salivat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	salivez	salivezi	salivează	salivăm	salivați	salivează
	imperfect	salivam	salivai	saliva	salivam	salivați	salivau
	simple perfect	salivai	salivași	salivă	salivarăm	salivarăți	salivară
	pluperfect	salivasem	salivaseși	salivase	salivaserăm	salivaserăți	salivaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să salivez	să salivezi	să saliveze	să salivăm	să salivați	să saliveze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		salivează			salivați
	negative		nu saliva			nu salivați

Etymology 2

Noun

saliva f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of salivă

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈliba/ [saˈli.β̞a]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iba
• Syllabification: sa‧li‧va

Etymology 1

From Latin salīva, probably borrowed.

Noun

saliva f (plural salivas)

1. saliva, spittle

Derived terms

• tragar saliva

Related terms

• salivar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

saliva

1. inflection of salivar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “saliva”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• salvia