Etymologically
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safeguard

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 07:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈseɪfɡɑːd/[1]
  • US: /ˈseɪfɡɑɹd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English saufgarde,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman saufgarde and Old French sauvegarde (“guarantee of safety, safekeeping”) (also salvegarde),[3][4][5][6] formed from Old French sauve (“safe”) + garde (“keeping, guard”),[3][5][4][6][2] sauve being the feminine of sauf.[3][2][5] The French word is recorded from about 1155 for a guarantee of safety,[3][7] and in Anglo-Norman also for safekeeping and protection and for a letter of protection.[3][7] It is related to safe, guard and saggar.[3][5][6][4] The verb, from 1501, is formed in English from the noun;[3][5][2] the OED compares the Anglo-Norman phrase salve garder, to keep safe, and the later French verb sauvegarder (1788).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A guarantee of safe passage given by someone in authority; a safe conduct: in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (about 1385, in a manuscript from before 1413),[3] the late 14th century in Etymonline, which gives the sense "protection, security, defence".[5]

Semantic evolution

From the guarantee of safety the word widened to protection and safety in general (1421), now archaic,[3] and to the protection given by a person or institution, as in under the safeguard of (1466).[3] The sense "something that gives security from danger", now the main one, appears around 1500,[3][5] and it was used from 1523 of a legal proviso or other measure that prevents encroachment.[3] In military use a safeguard was a warrant protecting a place from pillage, or the soldiers sent to guard it (1609),[3][2] and a picket of soldiers (1660–1707).[3] In the 16th century it was also an outer skirt worn by women to protect their clothes when riding (1578),[3] a sense the English Dialect Dictionary records as obsolete in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Devon and the West Country, with the forms segard and seggard.[8] Johnson (1755) gave "defence; protection; security", quoting Hooker.[9] From 1780 it named safety devices;[3] since 1831, after French, it has also named the tegu lizards of South America, said to give warning of danger.[3] The verb meant to keep secure from danger from 1501,[3][2] and since 1619 to protect against something undesirable by a suitable measure, especially a home industry against foreign trade.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1385 – a guarantee of safe passage; a safe conduct.[3]
  • 1421 – protection, safety (now archaic).[3]
  • 1466 – protection given by a person or institution.[3]
  • c. 1500 – something that offers security from danger.[3][5]
  • 1501 – verb, to keep secure from danger.[3][2]
  • 1619 – verb, to protect against something undesirable.[3]
  • 1523 – a legal proviso or stipulation that protects against encroachment.[3]
  • 1578 – an outer skirt worn by women when riding.[3]
  • 1609 – a warrant or guard protecting a place from pillage.[3]
  • 1780 – a safety device.[3]
  • 1831 – a tegu lizard.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Something that protects against danger, damage or loss; a precaution: Regular backups are a safeguard against losing your files.[10][2][3]
  2. A clause or proviso that protects against encroachment or abuse.[3]
  3. A safe-conduct, or a written order or a guard protecting persons or property, especially in wartime.[10][2][3]
  4. A technical device that makes something safer.[3]
  5. (archaic) Protection, safety.[3][2]

Verb

  1. To protect or keep safe from harm: The new rules safeguard the rights of tenants.[10][2][3]
  2. To protect a home industry against foreign competition.[3]

Word family

  • unsafeguarded

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins