sauver French · revision 16454

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Strasbourg Oaths (salvarai)|origins=la salvus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /so.ve/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sauver'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|salvar]], [[m|fro|salver]] (about 1050), ''sauver'' (about 1180); Middle French ''saulver''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|salver]], [[inh|la-lat|salvō|t=to make well; to preserve; to deliver, (Christian) to save]], from [[la|salvus|t=well, safe]], the source of [[sauf]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|11, 128a)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|salvare]], [[pro|sauvar]], [[ca|salvar]], [[es|salvar]] and [[pt|salvar]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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”).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Sauver la vie'' is found in 1165–1170, and ''sauver l'honneur'' about 1208 in Rey (1548 in the TLFi).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) From 1370 until the 19th century it also meant “to make (something mediocre) acceptable”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''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.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) The cry ''sauve qui peut'' is found in 1419 and became a noun, “a general rout”.^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In computing it means to save a file, and in North America also “to save, not waste”, a semantic loan from English ''save''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Salvarai'' “I shall help”, in the ''Strasbourg Oaths''.^(TLFi)

+ * late 10th century – The religious sense, in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – “To rescue from danger”, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1280 – ''Se sauver'' “to flee”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1419 – ''Sauve qui peut''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1588 – ''Sauver les apparences'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1773 – The derivative ''sauvetage''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1795 – ''Se sauver'' “to boil over”.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1914 – ''Sauver la face'' in Jaurès.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|save]], [[m|en|rescue]] from danger: ''sauver un enfant qui se noyait''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(religion)'' To save (a soul), bring salvation to.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To preserve, keep from loss: ''sauver l'honneur'', ''sauver les apparences'', ''sauver la face''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Sauver les meubles'': to save what can be saved.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(computing)'' To save (a file).^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(North America)'' To save, conserve: ''sauver de l'énergie''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se sauver'': to run away, escape, ''(familiar)'' to leave.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se sauver'': (of milk) to boil over.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ # ''Sauve qui peut !'': every man for himself!^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sauvable]]

+ * [[sauvetage]]

+ * [[sauveteur]]

+ * [[sauve-qui-peut]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sauf]]

+ * [[sauveur]]

+ * [[salut]]

+ * [[la|salvus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}