sauver

Pronunciation

• IPA: /so.ve/^[1]

Forms

sauver^[1] Old French salvar, salver (about 1050), sauver (about 1180); Middle French saulver.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French salver, inherited from Late Latin salvō (“to make well; to preserve; to deliver, (Christian) to save”), from Latin salvus (“well, safe”), the source of sauf.^{[3][2][4][5][6]}

Cognate with Italian salvare, Old Occitan sauvar, Catalan salvar, Spanish salvar and Portuguese salvar.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have the first person future salvarai in the sense “to defend, help”: Si salvarai eo cist meon fradre Karlo (“so shall I help this my brother Charles”).^[3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense, “to bring salvation to”, appears in the Passion de Clermont (late 10th century), and the usual sense, “to rescue from danger”, in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050).^[3][2] Sauver la vie is found in 1165–1170, and sauver l'honneur about 1208 in Rey (1548 in the TLFi).^[2][3] From 1370 until the 19th century it also meant “to make (something mediocre) acceptable”.^[3][2]

Se sauver “to flee from danger” dates from about 1280, “to take one's leave” from Molière (1673), and, of a boiling liquid, “to boil over” from 1795.^[3][10] The cry sauve qui peut is found in 1419 and became a noun, “a general rout”.^[2] Later phrases include sauver les apparences (1588, Montaigne), sauver sa peau (1729), sauver la mise (1866), sauver la face (Jaurès, 1914) and sauver les meubles (1918).^[3][2] In computing it means to save a file, and in North America also “to save, not waste”, a semantic loan from English save.^[1]

Timeline

• 842 – Salvarai “I shall help”, in the Strasbourg Oaths.^[3]
• late 10th century – The religious sense, in the Passion de Clermont.^[3]
• c. 1050 – “To rescue from danger”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• c. 1280 – Se sauver “to flee”.^[3]
• 1419 – Sauve qui peut.^[2]
• 1588 – Sauver les apparences in Montaigne.^[3]
• 1773 – The derivative sauvetage.^[2][4]
• 1795 – Se sauver “to boil over”.^[3][10]
• 1914 – Sauver la face in Jaurès.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To save, rescue from danger: sauver un enfant qui se noyait.^[11][12]
2. (religion) To save (a soul), bring salvation to.^[12][11]
3. To preserve, keep from loss: sauver l'honneur, sauver les apparences, sauver la face.^[3][2]
4. Sauver les meubles: to save what can be saved.^[2]
5. (computing) To save (a file).^[1]
6. (North America) To save, conserve: sauver de l'énergie.^[1]
7. Se sauver: to run away, escape, (familiar) to leave.^[2][1]
8. Se sauver: (of milk) to boil over.^[2][10]
9. Sauve qui peut !: every man for himself!^[2]

Word family

• sauvable
• sauvetage
• sauveteur
• sauve-qui-peut

Related words

• sauf
• sauveur
• salut
• Latin salvus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 128a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)