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Origin and history of saloon

saloon(n.)

1728, an Englished or otherwise deformed variant of salon (q.v.), and originally meaning the same, "spacious room set apart for reception of company or artistic display."

The specific sense of "large hall in a public place for entertainment or amusement" is from 1747; especially one on a passenger boat (by 1817); it later was used of railway cars furnished as drawing rooms (1842). The sense of "public bar" developed by 1841 in American English. Saloon-keeper "one who keeps a drinking saloon" is by 1839.

also from 1728

Entries linking to saloon

salon(n.)

1690s, "large room or apartment in a palace or great house," from French salon "reception room" (17c.), from Italian salone "large hall," from sala "hall," from a Germanic source (compare Old English sele, Middle English salle, Old Norse salr "hall," Old High German sal "hall, house," German Saal), from Proto-Germanic *salaz.

This is reconstructed to be from a PIE *sel-o-/*sol-o- "place, habitation, human settlement," with cognates in Lithuanian sala "island, field surrounded by meadows, village;" Old Church Slavonic selo "field, courtyard, village," obsolete Polish siolo, Russian selo "village;" and perhaps Latin solum "bottom, ground, foundation."

The sense of "reception room of a Parisian lady" is by 1810 (the woman who hosts one is a salonnière). The meaning "gathering of fashionable people" is by 1888; the meaning "annual exhibition of contemporary paintings and sculpture in Paris" (1875) is from its originally being held in one of the salons of the Louvre, from a secondary sense of the French word, "spacious or elegant apartment for reception of company or artistic exhibitions." The meaning "establishment for hairdressing and beauty care" is by 1913.

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    bar
    late 12c., "stake or rod of iron used to fasten a door or gate," from Old French barre "beam, bar, gate, barrier" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *barra "bar, barrier," which some suggest is from Gaulish *barros "the bushy end" [Gamillscheg, etc.], but OED regards this as "discredited"
    pub
    1859, slang shortening of public house (see public (adj.)), which originally meant "any building open to the public" (1570s), then "inn that provides food and is licensed to sell ale, wine, and spirits" (1660s), and finally "tavern" (1768). Simple public (n.) as short for public
    sedan
    1630s, "a covered chair on poles, serving as a vehicle for one person," a word of uncertain origin, possibly from a southern Italian dialect derivative of Italian sede "chair" (compare Italian seggietta, 1590s; the thing itself was said to have originated in Naples), which is fro
    speakeasy
    "unlicensed saloon," 1889 (in the New York "Voice"), from the verbal phrase, from speak (v.) + easy (adv.); so called from...
    honky-tonk
    As a type of music played in that sort of low saloon, it is attested by 1921....
    barrelhouse
    "cheap saloon, often with an associated brothel," by 1875, American English, so called in reference to the barrels of beer...
    gin
    Gin-mill, U.S. slang for "low-class tavern or saloon where spirits are drunk" (1872) might be a play on the senses from gin...British gin-palace "gaudily decorated tavern or saloon where spirits are drunk" is from 1831....
    room
    Middle English roum, from Old English rum "space, extent; sufficient space, fit occasion (to do something)," from Proto-Germanic *ruman (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic rum, German Raum "space," Dutch ruim "hold of a ship, nave"), nouns formed from Ge
    moor
    "to fasten (a ship) in a particular location by or as by cables, anchors, etc.," late 15c., probably related to Old English mærels "mooring rope," via unrecorded *mærian "to moor," or possibly borrowed from Middle Low German moren or Middle Dutch maren "to moor," from West German
    car
    c. 1300, "wheeled vehicle," from Anglo-French carre, Old North French carre, from Vulgar Latin *carra, related to Latin carrum, carrus (plural carra), originally "two-wheeled Celtic war chariot," from Gaulish karros, a Celtic word (compare Old Irish and Welsh carr "cart, wagon,"

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