salva

Forms

salva f (plural salvas)^[1]

Etymology

It is a Spanish formation: the DLE derives it from Spanish salvo (“safe”), and Wiktionary notes that its first meaning was a greeting, originally a wish for someone's safety.^[2][1] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of salvar, and Moliner and García de Diego also derive it from that verb.^[3][4][5][6] The salute with firearms comes, according to Corominas, from the old verb salvar (“to greet”), used from the 13th to the 15th century, which grew out of the greeting “God save you”.^[3][4] The Academy in 1884 derived it from salve, the Latin greeting.^[7]

The Spanish adjective continues salvus (“safe, secure”).^[3][4] De Vaan takes the Latin adjective back to Proto-Italic *salu- (“whole, healthy”) and Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the legal prose of Alfonso X's time (1256?–1300?) a salva is the oath by which a clergyman suspected of keeping a concubine clears himself: esta salua ha de fazer “this proof he must make”.^[9] Corominas's first record is the Libro de buen amor (1330–1343), where it means an excuse or justification.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th and 16th centuries the main sense was the foretasting of a lord's food and drink, to show that it was not poisoned: Nebrija translates it degustatio.^[3][10] Covarrubias described the steward tasting from the lord's dish and pouring some of his drink, a ceremony called hacer la salva because it shows the lord is safe from treachery, and also gave salva for the tray on which the cup is served, more often called salvilla.^[11] Montemayor (1558) has it for a reservation or solemn disclaimer.^[3]

The salute fired with guns is recorded from 1595, and Autoridades (1739) quotes espesas salvas de arcabucería “thick salvoes of harquebuses” and hizo salva la artillería.^[3][12] It also gave the dawn song of the birds.^[12] The 19th-century Academy dictionaries list the ordeal by which someone proved his innocence by facing a grave danger, trusting that God would save him, and a solemn oath or promise.^[13][14] Today the word is above all a salvo of guns fired in salute or together, and salva de aplausos a burst of applause.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1256?–1300? – a salva of innocence in Alfonsine legal prose.^[9]
• 1330–1343 – Juan Ruiz uses it for an excuse or justification.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Latin equivalent is degustatio, the foretaste.^[10][3]
• 1541 – hago la salva a los dioses con bino, in Michoacán.^[15]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “a taste, a salutation”.^[16]
• 1595 – the first record of a salute fired with guns.^[3][4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias describes the ceremony of hacer la salva.^[11]
• 1739 – Autoridades has the gun salute and the dawn song of birds.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A greeting, a welcome.^[2][5]
2. A salute made by firing guns.^[2]
3. A series of shots fired without ball as an honour or salute: El buque fue recibido con una salva de veintiún cañonazos.^[2][1]
4. A simultaneous discharge of several guns, a salvo or volley.^[2][1]
5. An oath, a solemn promise, a word of assurance.^[2]
6. A small tray for serving cups.^[2]
7. (historical) The foretaste of food and drink made by the servant of kings and great lords to show that it was not poisoned.^[2][17]
8. (historical) A reckless proof of innocence by exposing oneself to grave danger, trusting God to save one; an ordeal.^[2]

Word family

• salvilla

Related words

• salvo
• salvar
• salve
• Latin salvus

Usage notes

Salva de aplausos is a burst of applause from an audience, and bala de salva a blank cartridge.^[2][5] The proverbial phrase gastar la pólvora en salvas, to waste one's powder on salutes, is listed by Moliner.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. salva
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 142
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. salvo
5. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. salva
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5865
7. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 955
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. salva
10. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. salva
11. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1282
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 33
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 783
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 653
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. salva
16. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 211
17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. salva