salic

Salic is an adjective used in different fields to denote a relationship to the Salian Franks or to the willow family, depending on context. In historical usage, it most often refers to the Salian Franks, a West Germanic group that settled in parts of Gaul and the Rhineland during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

The term is widely associated with Salic law, or Lex Salica, a code of Frankish customary law compiled in the early medieval period for the Salian Franks. Salic law is best known for its influence on dynastic rules, including the traditional emphasis on male-line inheritance in certain kingdoms, which affected medieval European succession debates and royal claims.

In linguistic and ethnographic contexts, Salic has been used to describe the language and culture of the Salian Franks. Modern scholarship more commonly uses "Salian" or "Old Frankish" to designate these dialects and cultural traits, in order to avoid confusion with other uses of the term.

In botany and related sciences, Salic appears in reference to the Salicaceae family, the willow family, which includes willows (Salix) and poplars (Populus). The root salic- also appears in terms derived from willow, notably in chemistry and medicine through willow-bark derivatives such as salicylates and salicylic acid, which historically drew from the plant.