Etymologically
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salvus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsaɫ.wʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsal.vus][1]

Forms

salvus (feminine salva, neuter salvum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Pre-classical texts write salvos.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *salu- (“whole, healthy”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *slH-u- (“whole”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”).[3][1][4] Cognate with Faliscan salues and the Faliscan greeting salue, with Oscan salavs, Marrucinian salaus and Umbrian saluom “whole, healthy”, and further with Hittite šalli- (“big, main”), Sanskrit सर्व (sárva-, “whole, all”), Avestan hauruua- (“undamaged”), Old Persian haruva- (“whole”), Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”), Albanian gjallë (“alive”) and Tocharian A salu (“wholly”).[3][5][1]

The form raises a problem: the cognates point to *solwo-, but *salwo- should have given Latin *sallus, so de Vaan supposes that the u-stem *salu-, seen in salūs and salūber, was thematized within Italic after the change of *-lw- to *-ll-, perhaps under the influence of sollus.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius onwards, together with the greeting salvē;[3] Naevius has the wish salvi et fortunati sitis, “may you be safe and fortunate”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant safe and unharmed, of people, in the colloquial salvus sum “I am all right” and in greetings and wishes (salvus sis); of circumstances, in good state (salva res est); and of health, as in Cato's prayer to Mars to keep shepherds and flocks salva.[5][2] In law it meant immune from punishment or restored from exile; of a state, secure; of things and money, intact; of abstract qualities, unimpaired, and in the ablative “without loss to” (salva fide, salvo iure).[5] It also meant still alive or surviving, and of laws still in force, and salvo eo ut introduced a reservation.[5]

Christian Latin gave it the sense “saved, blessed”, and medieval texts use it of a place enjoying rights of sanctuary.[6][7][8] It survives as Italian, Spanish and Portuguese salvo and French sauf,[1] and English safe came through Old French sauf about 1300, at first “unhurt” and “saved spiritually”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a wish.[5][3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has salvus sum and uses it of an unbroken seal and of money.[5][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato prays that flocks may be kept salva.[5][2]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the safety of the republic and of a defendant's immunity.[5][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus has salva ratione, without prejudice.[5][7]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian has salvo eo ut, with the reservation that.[5][7]
  • c. 1300 – English Safe is borrowed into English.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Safe, unharmed, in safety; in greetings, salvus sis.[5][2]
  2. In a good state, well; in good health.[5][2]
  3. (law) Immune from punishment; restored to civil rights.[5]
  4. Secure, as of a state; intact, undamaged; not lost.[5]
  5. Unimpaired; in the ablative, without loss or prejudice to.[5]
  6. Still alive, surviving; still in force.[5]
  7. (Christian Latin) Saved, blessed.[6][7]
  8. (Medieval Latin) Enjoying rights of sanctuary.[6]

Word family

  • salveō
  • salvificus
  • salvō

Usage notes

Döderlein groups salvus with sōspes, safe as opposed to killed, against incolumis and integer, unhurt and untouched.[10] The greeting salvē “hail” is the imperative of salvēre, a verb derived from the adjective.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper