sally

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈsæli/ UK /ˈsæli/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like selly /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Meanings

1

noun
a sudden rush forward, especially a sortie; a witty remark; to rush out

The garrison made a daring sally against the besiegers at dawn.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden rush forward,... sortiecharge rush foray quip witticism jest

Opposites

retreat withdrawal

Word family

Forms sallying

Related forms salient assail resilient

Simplified etymology

Sally, in the expression sally out, entered English in the mid-16th century through a French form ultimately derived from Latin salire, “to leap.”

Etymology

From Middle French saillie ('a rushing forth'), from saillir ('to leap, rush'), from Latin salire ('to leap, spring').

saillie Middle French salire Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# sally

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsæli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsæli/

## Meanings
1. a sudden rush forward, especially a sortie; a witty remark; to rush out

## Examples
- The garrison made a daring sally against the besiegers at dawn.

## Synonyms
- sortie
- charge
- rush
- foray
- quip
- witticism
- jest

## Antonyms
- retreat
- withdrawal

## Related Forms
- salient
- assail
- resilient

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: saillie
- Root: salire

## Etymology
From Middle French saillie ('a rushing forth'), from saillir ('to leap, rush'), from Latin salire ('to leap, spring').

## AI Etymology
Sally comes from Middle French saillie ('a rushing forth'), from saillir ('to leap, rush'), from Latin salire ('to leap, spring'). The historical chain includes Middle French saillie and Latin salire. Older glosses in the chain include "a rushing forth", "to leap, rush", and "to leap, spring", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, sally is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a sudden rush forward, especially a sortie; a witty remark; to rush out". related forms include salient, assail, and resilient. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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