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salsa

 - 3 dictionary results

sal⋅sa

[sahl-suh; Sp. sahl-sah]
–noun
1. a lively, vigorous type of contemporary Latin American popular music, blending predominantly Cuban rhythms with elements of jazz, rock, and soul music.
2. a ballroom dance of Puerto Rican origin, performed to this music, similar to the mambo, but faster with the accent on the first beat instead of the second beat of each measure.
3. Mexican Cookery. a sauce, esp. a hot sauce containing chilies.
–verb (used without object)
4. to dance the salsa.

Origin:
1970–75; < AmerSp, Sp: lit., sauce; prob. so called orig. because of its mixture of styles
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sal·sa   (säl'sə)   
n.  
  1. A spicy sauce of chopped, usually uncooked vegetables or fruit, especially tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers, used as a condiment.

  2. Music A popular form of Latin-American dance music, characterized by Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies, and elements of jazz and rock.


[American Spanish, from Spanish, sauce, from Old Spanish, from Vulgar Latin *salsa; see sauce.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

salsa 
kind of sauce, 1846; kind of dance, 1975, from Sp., lit. "sauce," from V.L. *salsa "condiment" (see sauce). In Amer.Sp. esp. used of a kind of relish with chopped-up ingredients; the music so called from its blend of Latin jazz and rock styles.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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