เกลือ
salt
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 salt、table salt
This word usually refers to salt used in cooking and food preservation. In chemistry, it can also mean a salt compound, not just table salt.
salt、table salt
A salty substance used to season food or help preserve it.
Learning notes
Explanation
In everyday conversation, เกลือ normally means the salt used for cooking. It is common when discussing seasoning, food preservation, shopping, and food labels. Because it names a substance, its amount is usually expressed with a container or unit, as in เกลือหนึ่งถุง “one bag of salt” or เกลือหนึ่งช้อนชา “one teaspoon of salt.” เม็ด can be used to count individual grains. Depending on context, เกลือแร่ can refer to minerals, electrolytes, or an electrolyte drink. น้ำเกลือ can mean ordinary salt water, but in medical contexts it commonly refers to saline solution. In chemistry, เกลือ has the broader technical meaning of a salt compound and is not limited to sodium chloride.
Usage
It is most often used while cooking, asking for salt at the table, or discussing food seasoning and preservation. เกลือแร่ is common in health and exercise contexts, น้ำเกลือ in medical contexts, and the chemical sense of เกลือ in science classes.
Caution
เกลือ is the noun “salt,” not the adjective “salty.” Use เค็ม to describe a salty taste; for example, ซุปนี้เค็ม means “This soup is salty.” Also, an everyday electrolyte or sports drink is not necessarily equivalent to oral rehydration salts used to treat dehydration.
Differences from similar words
1 salt synonyms
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เกลือแกง specifically means cooking or table salt. เกลือ is the broader word, though in everyday food contexts it normally means the same kind of salt.