Salon

UK: /ˈsælɒn/ US: /səˈlɑn/ ,(sə lon′; Fr. sa lôn′)

Inflections of 'salon' (n): npl: salons

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

sa•lon /səˈlɑn/   n. [countable]

1. a room for receiving guests in a large house.
2. Fine Art a hall or place for the exhibition of works of art.
3. a special shop, department of a store, etc., usually for fashionable clients:
   a dress salon.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sa•lon  (sə lon′; Fr. sa lôn′), n., pl. -lons 

(-lonz′; Fr. -lôn′). 
1. a drawing room or reception room in a large house.
2. an assembly of guests in such a room, esp. an assembly, common during the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting of the leaders in society, art, politics, etc.
3. Fine Art a hall or place used for the exhibition of works of art.
4. a shop, business, or department of a store offering a specific product or service, esp. one catering to a fashionable clientele:
   a dress salon; a hair salon.
5. Fine Art (cap.) (in France)
   • the Salon, an annual exhibition of works of art by living artists, originally held at the Salon d'Apollon: it became, during the 19th century, the focal point of artistic controversy and was identified with academicism and official hostility to progress in art.
   • a national exhibition of works of art by living artists:
     Salon des Refusés; Salon des Indépendants.

• Gmc; compare Old English sæl, Old Saxon seli, German Saal, Old Norse salr) + -one augmentative suffix
• Italian salone, equivalent. to sal(a) hall (
• French
• 1705–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

salon / ˈsælɒn/ noun

1. a room in a large house in which guests are received
2. an assembly of guests in a fashionable household, esp a gathering of major literary, artistic, and political figures from the 17th to the early 20th centuries
3. a commercial establishment in which hairdressers, beauticians, etc, carry on their businesses
4. a hall for exhibiting works of art
5. such an exhibition, esp one showing the work of living artists

Etymology: 18th Century: from French, from Italian salone, augmented form of sala hall, of Germanic origin; compare Old English sele hall, Old High German sal, Old Norse salr hall