Salt: What lay behind this commonplace term? Was it a spice and preservative that was weighed against gold? Was it a symbol of God's covenant with His chosen people? Did it refer to a principle that imparts properties to all material things? Was it the origin of all things or a chemical element? Does the term classify a group of substances? Or is it obtained as a result of a chemical reaction? Due to their economic significance in trade, crafts, and emerging manufacturing, as well as in medicine, salts were an important subject of research in the Early Modern Period. The development of the term during this time and its various transformations are examined and illustrated through examples.