saver

Etymology

It is formed from English save + -er, an agent noun from the verb.^[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster takes it as a Middle English formation from the verb with the same suffix.^[5] The verb, saven in Middle English,^[6][5] is from Old French sauver (“to keep safe, protect, redeem”), from Late Latin salvō (“to make safe”), from Latin salvus (“safe”).^[4] The OED compares Middle French sauveur (“saviour”) and notes the older saviour, which came from Old French;^[2] Etymonline describes saver as an alternative to saviour in its religious sense.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who saves or rescues another from danger or harm; a saviour: before 1400, in the Cursor Mundi (composed before 1325).^[2] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300, in the spelling sauuer, used especially of Christ, God and the Virgin as those who save from sin.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The religious and rescuing sense came first, but the word turned secular early.^[4] From 1548 a saver was a person who puts aside money or resources, a thrifty person,^[2][7] and in later use chiefly someone who regularly deposits money in a bank;^[2][8] Etymonline suggests that this may have been a new formation.^[4] Other early senses were short-lived: a person who looked after something (before 1500 to 1570) and a person who salvaged goods from a wreck (1541–1853).^[2][7] In gambling a saver was someone who kept his stake without winning, a sense the OED records from 1591 to 1755;^[2] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "one who escapes loss, though without gain", beside "preserver; rescuer".^[9] From 1670 the word was applied to things that save labour, time or money,^[2][7] and Etymonline finds time-saver in American advertisements by 1836.^[4] The OED's first edition noted that saver was used only where saviour would seem out of place.^[4] Two newer specialised senses are a hedging bet, first in Australian horse racing (1891),^[2][8] and a reduced fare or ticket, chiefly British (1977).^[2][8]

Timeline

• before 1400 – a person who saves or rescues; a saviour.^[2][7]
• before 1500 – a person who has the care of something (obsolete by 1570).^[2]
• 1541 – a person who salvages goods from a shipwreck (obsolete by 1853).^[2][7]
• 1548 – a thrifty person, one who saves money or resources.^[2][7]
• 1591 – in gambling, a person who neither wins nor loses (obsolete by 1755).^[2]
• 1670 – something that saves labour, time or money.^[2][7]
• 1836 – time-saver, in American advertisements.^[4]
• 1891 – a hedging bet, in Australian horse racing.^[2][7]
• 1977 – a reduced-price ticket or fare, chiefly British.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who saves money, especially one who regularly puts money into a bank or savings scheme: Small savers were hit hardest by the fall in interest rates.^[8][5][2]
2. Something that prevents the waste of time, labour or another resource, often in compounds such as time-saver and money-saver.^[8][5][2]
3. A person who saves or rescues someone; a saviour.^[5][2]
4. (chiefly British) A ticket or fare sold at a reduced price, especially for rail travel.^[8][2]
5. (slang) A hedging bet, especially in horse racing.^[5][8][2]
6. (obsolete, 1591–1755) A person who neither wins nor loses, keeping his or her stake.^[2][9]

Word family

• supersaver
• face-saver
• lifesaver
• screen saver

Related words

• save
• saviour
• safe
• salvation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ a b c d e f g Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.