Etymologically
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salvation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sælˈveɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English savacioun, borrowed from Old French salvaciun, and directly from Late Latin salvātiō,[2][3][4] a Church Latin translation of Ancient Greek σωτηρία (sōtēría),[3][5] formed from salvō (“to save”) (see save).[2][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The saving of the soul, deliverance from sin and its consequences: about 1200 in Etymonline, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle in Barnhart, before 1225 in the OED.[3][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, preservation from destruction, ruin or loss, followed by about 1374, as did a source or means of saving, a person or thing that saves.[7] Year of salvation, a year counted from the birth of Christ, is from 1560,[7] the phrase to work out one's own salvation from 1535,[7] and transferred and figurative uses from 1886.[7] With a capital, it has stood for the Salvation Army since 1889.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – the saving of the soul.[3]
  • c. 1374 – preservation from harm.[7]
  • 1535 – to work out one's salvation.[7]
  • 1560 – year of salvation.[7]
  • 1889 – the Salvation Army.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (Christianity) Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.
  2. Preservation or rescue from harm, ruin or loss.
  3. A person or thing that saves someone from harm.

Word family

  • salvational
  • salvationist
  • salvationism

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press