English
save
Save comes from Middle English saven, from Old French sauver, from Late Latin salvō ‘to save’, from salvus ‘safe’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-‘whole’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*salawos‘whole’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsalvus‘safe’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsalvō‘to save’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sauver‘to save’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saven‘to rescue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613save
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-‘whole’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*salawos‘whole’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsalvus‘safe’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsalvō‘to save’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sauver‘to save’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saven‘to rescue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613save
Earliest quotation: 1613, William Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight: “I'll save you / That labour, sir. All's now…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- ‘whole’
sold, solid, holocaust, sol, salute, xu, sou, salutation, salutary, salubrious, 29 more
through Proto-Italic *salawos ‘whole’
through Latin salvus ‘safe, saved, preserved, sound, unharmed,…’
through Latin salvō ‘to save’
salvation, savior, salve, 4 more
through Latin salvāre ‘to save’
Today it means
verb To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- / save