Soldier

A solider is someone who serves in the armed forces, but the origin of the word is kind of neat.

The most direct connection for the origin we have is circa 1300 from the Old French soudier, “one who serves in the army for pay”.

That seems to connect to the Medieval Latin soldarius, which means literally “one having pay”. That Latin phrase seems to be the source of the Spanish term for soldier, solodado and the Italian soldato.

That Medieval Latin term can find its root in the Latin solidus, which the term for a Roman gold coin and means, “coin of thick or solid metal” or not of thin plate, you know solid. Yes, the odds are good that soldier can trace a line to the word solid. Pretty cool.

At least that is one theory. Here is the other…

During the Roman Empire men in the army were sometimes paid in salt The Roman word for salt was sal. This payment became known as a salary and gave rise to the phrases “worth his salt”

Sal in Latin eventually became solde in French and eventually became soldier. Again, one who serves in the army for pay. Or for a salary.

One more quick one. Ancient Romans enjoyed eating their greens with a little bit of  salt to bring out the flavor. Remember that the Roman word for salt was sal? Well that dish of vegetables with salt became known as salad.  Thank you Rome.