salve

Forms

salve f (plural salves)^[1]

Etymology

Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and Rey take it as borrowed from Latin salvē (“hail, greetings”), the imperative of salveō (“to be well, be in good health”), used as a greeting, since the volleys were fired to salute someone.^[2][3][4][5] They set aside an Italian source, which they find only from 1614 and in the sense “salutation”;^[2][4] the masculine gender found in d'Aubigné supports a formation in French.^[2] The TLFi instead takes it as borrowed from Italian salva, itself a feminine noun made from the Latin word, and points out that the Italian word is attested in the 16th century (1566, of harquebus volleys).^[6][7] Estienne already cited the French word in 1578 as an Italianism.^[6] Wiktionary also gives the Italian word as the source.^[1]

The Latin verb comes from the adjective salvus (“whole, safe and sound”), the source of sauf.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1559, in a letter among the state papers of Cardinal Granvelle, for a simultaneous discharge of firearms fired in someone's honour or for a celebration.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

From the 1580s the word was also used of a volley fired in combat or at drill (Brantôme, 1583–84, La Noue, 1587), and d'Aubigné used it in the masculine.^[6][4][5] A series of cannon shots fired at intervals to honour someone is recorded by Furetière in 1690, and of cannon in general from 1829.^[5][4] The phrase tirer en salve means to fire several guns at once.^[4]

By analogy, salve d'applaudissements (1792) is applause breaking out all together.^[6][4] In 20th-century physics it names a sudden burst of ion pairs, also salve de neutrons (1975).^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1559 – First record, for a volley fired in someone's honour.^[6]
• 1578 – Estienne cites salve as an Italianism.^[6]
• 1583–84 – Brantôme uses it of a volley in combat.^[6]
• 1587 – D'Aubigné uses it in the masculine.^[4]
• 1690 – Furetière records a series of cannon shots fired in salute.^[5]
• 1792 – Salve d'applaudissements is recorded.^[6][4]
• 1975 – A physics sense, a burst of ion pairs, appears.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A salvo: a simultaneous discharge of firearms or a series of cannon shots, fired to honour someone, announce news or celebrate.^[9][6]
2. A simultaneous volley of several firearms in combat: feu de salve.^[9][6]
3. (figurative) A burst of something happening all at once: une salve d'applaudissements.^[9][4]
4. (physics) A sudden burst of ion pairs or neutrons.^[4][5]

Related words

• sauf
• Latin salveō

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has two further words spelled salve.^[3] One, also written salvé (masculine, invariable, 1387), is the Salve Regina, the antiphon to the Virgin named after its first words, “Hail, Queen”.^[3][4][6] The other (feminine, 1666) is borrowed from Spanish salva, from salvar “to save”, and names a silver-gilt cup or tray on which objects were presented to a prince, first used to check that his food and drink were not poisoned.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 132a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert