salinity

UK: /səˈlɪnəti/ US: /səˈlɪnɪti/

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

sa•line /ˈseɪlin, -laɪn/  adj. 

1. Chemistry of, containing, or tasting of salt; salty:
   saline soil.

n. [countable]

2. Ecology a saline solution.

sa•lin•i•ty /səˈlɪnɪti/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sa•line  (sā′lēn, -līn), adj. 

1. Chemistry of, containing, or resembling common table salt; salty or saltlike:
   a saline solution.
2. Chemistry of or pertaining to a chemical salt, esp. of sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc., as used as a cathartic.
3. Medicine of or pertaining to a method of abortion involving injection of hypertonic saline solution into the amniotic cavity during the second trimester.

n. 

4. Medicine, Drugs a sterile solution of sodium chloride used to dilute medications or for intravenous therapy.
5. Ecology salty water;
   a salty solution.

• Latin salīnus salty, equivalent. to sal sal + -īnus -ine¹
• Middle English: composed of salt 1400–50

sa•lin•i•ty  (sə lin′i tē), n.