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The IUPAC salt definition is: "A chemical compound consisting of an assembly of cations and anions" (Compendium of Chemical Terminology Gold Book, Version 2.2.3, 2014)

So it means that a base like NaOH, that's also an ionic crystal, is a salt? I'm quite certain it's not but it seems the definition says so.

Then, a if a base is not a salt, what would be a better definition for salt?

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  • $\begingroup$ There is no good definition of salt, or even "ionic" compound. $\endgroup$
    – Mithoron
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 21:26
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    $\begingroup$ $\ce{NaH2PO4}$ acts as an acid when dissolved in pure water, yet it is a salt, no? $\endgroup$
    – Karsten ♦
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 21:27
  • $\begingroup$ chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/117914/… chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/96090/… $\endgroup$
    – Mithoron
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 21:38
  • $\begingroup$ NaOH can be formally considered as a salt of the very weak acid H2O, making it a very strong conjugate base of the H2O acid. $\endgroup$
    – Poutnik
    Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 12:45

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