Etymologically
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salvatio

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Forms

salvātiō f (genitive salvātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin salvō (“to save”) + -tiō.[1][2][3] The verb is formed from salvus (“safe, secure”),[4] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”).[5] In Church Latin the noun translated Ancient Greek σωτηρία (sōtēría).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte's earliest example, meaning salvation, is from Cyprian's Testimonia.[7][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a Christian word: in the Vulgate it means deliverance or salvation,[8][2] and in Ecclesiastical Latin generally the act of saving.[9] Boethius also uses it.[8]

Medieval Latin kept eternal salvation as the main sense but also used the word for happiness and welfare, safety, protection, a fence, and the inviolability of a place with right of asylum, and then for such a place itself (French sauveté).[10][11] In British sources it also meant the rescue of a life, salvage at sea, and in law the saving of a day.[12] English salvation (c. 1200, first in the Christian sense) comes from it, partly through Old French.[6]

Timeline

  • 3rd century AD – Cyprian uses it for salvation.[7][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Joel and the Psalms.[8][4]
  • first third of the 8th century – Bede uses it of a rescue remembered with the Passover lamb.[12][4]
  • c. 1200 – English borrows it as savacioun in the Christian sense.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Deliverance, salvation.[8][9][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Happiness, welfare.[10]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Safety, protection.[10]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A fence.[10]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The right of asylum of a place; a place that enjoys it.[10][11]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A rescue;[12] (nautical) salvage.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  12. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press