save

Pronunciation

• IPA: /seɪv/^[1]

save¹ rescue, keep

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English sauven, later saven,^[2] borrowed from Old French sauver, salver (“to keep safe, protect, redeem”),^[3][2][4] from Late Latin salvāre (“to make safe”),^[3][2] from salvus (“safe”),^[3][2][5] the source of safe, from Proto-Indo-European *sol- (“whole, well-kept”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To rescue, bring to safety: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] or about 1200,^[3] when it also meant “to deliver from sin, admit to eternal life”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

“To store up, keep instead of spending” is from about 1300,^[3][2] and “to keep possession of” from the late 14th century.^[3] In sports, “to prevent the other side from scoring” is by 1816, and the noun save from 1890.^[3][7] A baseball save by a relief pitcher is from 1962,^[7] and saving a computer file is from 1982 as a noun.^[7] To save appearances, to avoid embarrassment, is by 1711;^[3] to save face (1898) arose among the British community in China and is said to be from Chinese.^[3] Not to do something to save one's life is from 1848, and save one's breath from 1926.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – to rescue; to redeem (Ancrene Riwle).^[2][3]
• c. 1300 – to store up.^[3]
• 1711 – save appearances.^[3]
• 1816 – verb, in sports.^[3]
• 1890 – noun, in sports.^[3][7]
• 1898 – save face.^[3]
• 1982 – noun, saving a computer file.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To rescue from harm, danger or loss; to set free from sin.
2. To keep safe; to safeguard.
3. To prevent the waste or loss of; to set aside for future use; to accumulate money.
4. To make unnecessary: saves time.
5. To prevent an opponent from scoring.
6. (computing) To store data, such as a file, for later use.

Noun

1. An act that prevents an opponent from scoring.
2. (baseball) The preservation of a win by a relief pitcher.

Word family

• saver
• saving
• savings
• savable
• lifesaver
• timesaver

save² except

Etymology

The preposition is inherited from Middle English sauf, from sauf (“safe”),^[3][2] modelled on Old French sauf, sauve, the adjective safe used as a preposition,^[2][4][8] from Latin salvō, salvā, ablative of salvus (“safe”), used in absolute phrases such as salvō jūre (“without violation of the right”).^[4][9][6] Old French had phrases such as saulve l'honneur “save (our) honour”.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Except, with the exception of: about 1300,^[3][2] or before 1300.^[7] The conjunction, introducing an exception, is also from before 1300.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart explains that the adjective safe meant “keeping intact, reserving” and so “excepting”, as Old French sauf did.^[2] The conjunction “unless” is from 1390.^[7] The preposition is now formal or literary.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – preposition, except.^[3][2]
• 1390 – conjunction, unless.^[7]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. With the exception of; except.

Conjunction

1. Except; were it not that; unless.

Related words

• safe
• salvage
• salvation
• salvo
• salute
• salve

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares save with rescue, reclaim, redeem and deliver: save is the most general.^[10] An obsolete save, “sage” (the herb), is recorded from about 1386.^[7]

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 d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin