From Latin 'salārium' (salt money) — an allowance for Roman soldiers to buy salt, from 'sal' (salt), from PIE *séh₂ls. The same root gives us salad, salsa, sauce, sausage, and salami — an entire food vocabulary descended from salt.
A fixed regular payment made by an employer to an employee, especially on a monthly or biweekly basis.
From Anglo-Norman 'salarie', from Latin 'salārium', originally meaning 'salt money' — an allowance given to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt. Derived from 'sal' (salt), from PIE *séh₂ls (salt). While the popular story that Roman soldiers were literally 'paid in salt' is an oversimplification, salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world, and the connection between salt and compensation was real. The Latin phrase 'salārium argentum' (salt money) referred to the allowance specifically. Key
The PIE root *séh₂ls (salt) produced an extraordinary family of food words: 'salary' (salt money), 'salad' (salted vegetables), 'salsa' (salted sauce), 'sauce' (from Latin salsa), 'sausage' (salted meat), and 'salami' (salted cured meat). Your salary, your salad, and your salami are all etymological cousins — all from salt.