Etymologically
Log in

saver

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 00:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈseɪvə/[1]
  • US: /ˈseɪvəɹ/[1]

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

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.