salvador

Forms

salvador m (plural salvadores, feminine salvadora, feminine plural salvadoras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish salvador, inherited from Latin salvātor (“saviour”).^[1][2][3] Corominas lists it under salvo and salvar, with a first record in Berceo.^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Portuguese salvador, Galician salvador, Catalan salvador, French sauveur, Italian salvatore and Romanian salvator.^[1][6][7]

The Latin noun is formed from salvō (“to save”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[1] Both are Late Latin: classical Latin said servātor, and the Christian writers used the word to translate Ancient Greek σωτήρ (sōtḗr) and the name of Jesus.^[8] Augustine remarked that the verb and the noun were not Latin before the Saviour came.^[8] The verb comes from salvus (“safe, whole”), which goes back to *salu- and Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”).^[9][1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Berceo uses the word for Christ in the Vida de Santo Domingo: El Salvador del mundo, que por nos carne priso, “the Saviour of the world, who took flesh for us”.^[11][5] The prose of Alfonso X has it both for Christ, jhesu cristo saluador del mundo (1270–1284), and in the plural for the saviours of the prophecy of Obadiah (1280).^[12]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense is the earliest recorded; around 1495 Nebrija gave its Latin, Greek and Hebrew equivalents, salvator, soter and iesus.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it simply as “one who saves”, and the Academy's later editions added that by antonomasia it names Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.^[14][2][15] The dictionary of 1884 gave the etymology and recorded its use as an adjective, “that saves”.^[16]

In modern use it is said of anyone who rescues a person or a situation, especially in relation to the one saved.^[17] It is also a common man's name, and is written with a capital when it refers to Christ.^[1][18]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – Berceo calls Christ el Salvador del mundo.^[5][11]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España of Alfonso X calls Christ saluador del mundo.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives salvator as its Latin equivalent.^[13]
• 1548 – first record in the Americas, in Nicaragua.^[19]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “a saviour”.^[20]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the Latin etymology and the adjective use.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That saves: una idea salvadora.^[2][21]

Noun

1. A saviour, rescuer: a person who saves someone or something.^[2][1][17]
2. (Christianity, with a capital, el Salvador) Jesus Christ, the Saviour.^[2][18]

Related words

• salvar
• salvo
• salvación
• Portuguese salvador
• Latin salvātor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. salvador
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5866
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 142
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. salvo
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 254
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. salvador
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. salvator
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. salvo
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. salvus
11. ^ a b Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 690
12. ^ 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. salvador
13. ^ 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. salvador
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 698
16. ^ a b 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
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. salvador
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. salvador
19. ^ 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. salvador
20. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 211
21. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. salvador