salvatore

Forms

salvatore m (plural salvatori, feminine salvatrice)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian salvadore, salvaore and sarvatore; the feminine is salvatrice.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin salvātor (“saviour”), a word of the Church writers, from salvō (“to save, redeem”).^[4][5][6][7] The Latin word translated Ancient Greek σωτήρ (sōtḗr, “saviour”), from σῴζω (sṓizō, “to save”), as an epithet of Jesus.^[4][8][9] DEI describes it as an agent noun made on the model of cōnfessor and cultor;^[10] Tertullian did not yet use it, writing salvificātor instead.^[10]

The same word is French sauveur, Occitan salvador, Catalan salvador, Spanish salvador and Portuguese salvador.^[4][9][11] The verb comes from Latin salvus (“safe, whole”), which de Vaan traces through Proto-Italic to Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 13th-century poem of Pietro da Barsegapè, with the sense “one who saves”, and in particular Christ.^[13][5]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word mainly of Christ: Dante writes in the Convivio of “our saviour Christ” (lo nostro salvatore Cristo), who chose to die in his 34th year, and Bernardino da Siena explains that Iesu means salvatore.^[2] The old Bible translation calls the deliverers raised up for Israel salvatori, and Segneri compares such earlier saviours with Christ.^[14]

The general sense of anyone who rescues others from danger, material or spiritual, as in il salvatore della patria, stands beside the religious one in the modern dictionaries.^[5][6][7] The adjective, “bringing spiritual salvation”, is recorded from 1872, mostly in the feminine: fede salvatrice.^[13][5]

Timeline

• 13th century – Pietro da Barsegapè uses salvatore for Christ.^[13]
• 1287 – Zingarelli's date of first record.^[15]
• 1304–1307 – Dante speaks of “our saviour Christ” in the Convivio.^[2]
• 1872 – The adjective “that gives spiritual salvation” is recorded.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who saves; a rescuer or saviour: Il cane fu il salvatore del bambino caduto nel fiume.^[5][6][15]
2. il Salvatore (with a capital): Jesus Christ as redeemer of humankind.^[5][6][7]

Adjective

1. (literary) That brings spiritual salvation: grazia salvatrice.^[5][3][15]

Word family

• salvatoriano

Related words

• salvare
• salvezza
• salvo
• Latin salvator

Usage notes

Salvatore is also a common male given name, given in honour of Christ; the Sicilian form is Sarbaturi.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3326
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli