salamander

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See also: Salamander

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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A fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra)

Etymology

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From Middle English salamandre, from Anglo-Norman salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra), of uncertain origin (per Beekes, likely Pre-Greek); possibly of Iranian origin, see Persian سمندر (samandar) for more information.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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salamander (plural salamanders)

  1. A long, slender, chiefly terrestrial amphibian of the order Caudata, superficially resembling a lizard.
    • 1672, Thomas Browne, “Pseudodoxia Epidemica”, in Simon Wilkin, editor, The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, volume 1, published 1852, page 292:
      […] and most plainly Pierius, whose words in his hieroglyphicks are these: "Whereas it is commonly said that a salamander extinguisheth fire, we have found by experience that it is so far from quenching hot coals, that it dyeth immediately therein."
    • 2012 January, Douglas Larson, “Runaway Devils Lake”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 23 May 2012, page 46:
      Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.
  2. (mythology) A creature much like a lizard that is resistant to and lives in fire (in which it is often depicted in heraldry), hence the elemental being of fire.
    • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XI, in The Understanding Heart:
      “Not a chance, Ranger,” Bob Mason was speaking. “This little cuss is a salamander. He's been travelling through fire all day and there isn't a blister on him. …”
    • 1849, John Brand, Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, volume 3, page 372:
      "There is a vulgar error," says the author of the Brief Natural History, p. 91, "that a salamander lives in the fire. Yet both Galen and Dioscorides refute this opinion; and Mathiolus, in his Commentaries upon Dioscorides, a very famous physician, affirms of them, that by casting of many a salamander into the fire for tryal he found it false. The same experiment is likewise avouched by Joubertus."
  3. (cooking) A metal utensil with a flat head which is heated and put over a dish to brown the top.
    • 1977, Richard Daunton-Fear, Penelope Vigar, Australian Colonial Cookery (discussing 19th century cookery), Rigby, 1977, →ISBN, page 41
      The salamander, a fairly long metal utensil with a flat rounded head, was left in the fire until red hot and then used to brown the top of a dish without further cooking.
  4. (cooking) A small broiler (North America) or grill (Britain) that heats the food from above, used in professional cookery primarily for browning.
    The chef first put the steak under the salamander to sear the outside.
    • 2006, Frank Saxon, editor, Tolley's Industrial and Commercial Gas Installation Practice [Gas Service Technology; 3], 4th edition, Oxford, Burlington, Mass.: Elsevier Newnes, →ISBN, page 35:
      Overfired grills, or salamanders, can, in addition, be used for making toast and salamandering. They have the heat source above the food […] . This may comprise sets of burners firing below refractory or metal frets, or surface combustion plaques.
  5. (archaic) A pouched gopher (Geomys pinetis etc.)[2]
  6. (UK, obsolete) A large poker.[3]
    • 1698, William King, A journey to London […] , translation of original by Samuel Sorbière:
      Multitudes had little Tin Kettles in their Houses, with Small-coal kindled, to light their Pipes withal; though in some places they use Candles, in others Salamanders
  7. (metallurgy) Solidified material in a furnace hearth.[4]
    Synonym: Shadrach
    • 2019, Ian Cameron, Mitren Sukhram, Kyle Lefebvre, Blast Furnace Ironmaking:
      Salamander tapping is done at the salamander base, which is the bottom-most level of the liquid pool in a blast furnace hearth. A high degree of precision is required to tap the salamander base effectively
  8. (construction) A portable stove used to heat or dry buildings under construction.
    • 2003, Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 192:
      The necessary fires alone -- the salamanders and tinner's pots -- had caused dozens of small blazes.
  9. (UK, slang, obsolete) A fire-eater (performer who pretends to swallow fire).[5]

Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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salamander (third-person singular simple present salamanders, present participle salamandering, simple past and past participle salamandered)

  1. (transitive) To use a salamander (cooking utensil) in a cooking process.
    • 19th century (quoted 1977), recipe in Richard Daunton-Fear, Penelope Vigar, Australian Colonial Cookery, Rigby, →ISBN, page 41:
      When cold, sprinkle the custard thickly with sugar and salamander it.
    • 2006, Frank Saxon, editor, Tolley's Industrial and Commercial Gas Installation Practice [Gas Service Technology; 3], 4th edition, Oxford, Burlington, Mass.: Elsevier Newnes, →ISBN, page 35:
      Overfired grills, or salamanders, can, in addition, be used for making toast and salamandering. They have the heat source above the food […] . This may comprise sets of burners firing below refractory or metal frets, or surface combustion plaques.

References

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  1. ^ Joan Beal (2002) English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth Century: Thomas Spence's Grand Repository of the English Language, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, retrieved 27 April 2018, page 110
  2. ^ “salamander”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
  3. ^ “salamander”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
  4. ^ “salamander”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
  5. ^ 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

Further reading

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Afrikaans

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Dutch salamander, from Middle Dutch salamander, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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salamander (plural salamanders)

  1. salamander, amphibian of the order Caudata

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch salamander, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌsaː.laːˈmɑn.dər/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: sa‧la‧man‧der

Noun

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salamander m (plural salamanders, diminutive salamandertje n)

  1. salamander, amphibian of the order Caudata

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: salamander
  • → Malay: salamander
    Indonesian: salamander
  • → West Frisian: salamander

Manx

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Etymology

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From English salamander, from Middle English salamandre, from Old French salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra), of uncertain origin.

Noun

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salamander m (genitive singular [please provide], plural [please provide])

  1. salamander

Mutation

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Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
salamander halamander
after "yn", talamander		 unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Noun

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salamander c

  1. a salamander (amphibian of the order Caudata)
  2. (mythology) a salamander
  3. (cooking) a salamander

Declension

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Declension of salamander
nominative genitive
singular indefinite salamander salamanders
definite salamandern salamanderns
plural indefinite salamandrar salamandrars
definite salamandrarna salamandrarnas

References

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West Frisian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Dutch salamander, from Middle Dutch salamander, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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salamander c (plural salamanders)

  1. salamander, amphibian of the order Caudata
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