salon means A large room, especially one used to receive and entertain guests.
salon is pronounced /ˈsælɒn/.
Why “salon” is a great word
A large room for receiving guests or a regular gathering of people, especially intellectuals or artists, for social or intellectual exchange. From French salon ('reception room'), from Italian salone ('large hall'), from sala ('hall'), from Lombardic sala ('room, house, hall'), from Proto-Germanic *salą ('dwelling, house, hall'); first attested in English in the 1690s. Unlike 'saloon' (which denotes a public bar or ship's cabin, functional and unrefined) or 'parlor' (which suggests a modest domestic space for private callers), a salon implies both grandeur and ferment—a room whose purpose is the deliberate cultivation of ideas. It is the amber light of oil lamps on gilt mirrors, the rustle of silk against upholstery as someone leans forward to interrupt politely, the charged hush that follows a perfect, devastating bon mot—a fleeting architecture of brilliance built from nothing but air and audacity, where conversation, properly staged, becomes a form of art.
Etymology
Borrowed from French salon (“reception room”), from Middle French, from Italian salone (“large hall”), augmented form of sala (“hall”), from Lombardic sala (“room, house, entrance hall”), from Proto-Germanic *salą (“dwelling, house, hall”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“human settlement, village, dwelling”). Cognate with Old High German sal (“room, house, entrance hall”), Old English sæl (“room, hall, castle”), Old Church Slavonic село (selo, “courtyard, village”), Lithuanian sala (“island”). Doublet of saloon.
noun
- A large room, especially one used to receive and entertain guests.
- A gathering of people for a social or intellectual meeting.
- An art gallery or exhibition; especially the Paris salon or autumn salon.“Matisse showed in every autumn salon and every independent. He was beginning to have a considerable following. Picasso, on the contrary, never in all his life has shown in any salon. His pictures at that time could really only be seen at 27 rue de Fleurus.”
- A beauty salon or similar establishment.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- conversazione 84% match — A formal gathering where something related to the arts or academia is discussed. vs salon →
- atelier 83% match — A studio or workshop, especially for an artist, designer, or fashion house. vs salon →
- hospitality 83% match — The act or service of welcoming, receiving, hosting, or entertaining guests; an appropriate attitude of openness, respect, and generosity toward guests. vs salon →
- cenacle 82% match — A dining room, especially one on an upper floor (traditionally the room in which the Last Supper took place). vs salon →
- anteroom 82% match — A room before, or forming an entrance to, another; a waiting room. vs salon →
- parloir 81% match — A room set aside for visitors in a monastery or convent, where they can talk to residents. vs salon →
- vernissage 81% match — A private viewing of an art exhibition before it opens to the public. vs salon →
- atrium 81% match — A central room or space in ancient Roman homes, open to the sky in the middle; a similar space in other buildings. vs salon →