sauvage French · revision 16950

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 11th century, Chanson de Guillaume|origins=la silva}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (France): /so.vaʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /sɔ.vaʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sauvage''' (plural sauvages)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|salvage]] (late 11th century), ''sauvage'' (about 1175); ''salvaige'' and ''saulvage'' until the 16th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|salvage]], [[inh|la-lat|salvāticus]], an alteration by vowel assimilation of [[la|silvāticus|t=of the woods; wild, of plants]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|11, 616b) from [[m|la|silva|t=forest, wood]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) which gave Old French [[m|fro|selve]] (1080), now found only in place names.^(DHLF 1992) The Petit Robert calls the Latin noun of obscure origin.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|sălbatic]], [[it|salvatico]] and [[oc|salvatge]];^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[m|it|selvaggio]] and [[es|salvaje]] are borrowed.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) From French came [[en|savage]] (13th century).^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The GLLF finds ''salvage'' in the ''Chanson de Guillaume'' at the end of the 11th century;^(GLLF 1989) Philippe de Thaon's ''Bestiaire'' (1121–1134) has ''asne salvage'', the wild ass.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside animals living free in nature, the word was used from the 12th century of people: the ''Couronnement de Louis'' (1135) calls the Saracens ''la gent sauvage'', and it described hermits or brigands living alone in the woods.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It meant an untilled, uninhabited land (''Eneas'', about 1160) and wild fruit trees (about 1165).^(TLFi) Philippe de Thaon also uses it for “foreign, outside the group”, and Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1165) for someone shy and unsociable.^(TLFi)

+

+ As a noun, a ''sauvage'' was a member of a primitive people (1596, Hulsius) and a person who likes solitude (1555, Pascal, 1656).^(TLFi)^(BHVF) In North America the word was long used for the Native peoples; [[sauvagesse]] (1632) was coined there, and Canadian French calls the raccoon ''chat sauvage'' (1630).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) Other derivatives are [[sauvagine]] (about 1125), [[sauvageon]] (1396) and [[sauvagerie]] (about 1739).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 11th century – ''Salvage'' in the ''Chanson de Guillaume''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1121–1134 – ''Asne salvage'', in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1125 – ''Sauvagine''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1135 – ''La gent sauvage'' “the Saracens”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – Of untilled land, in ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – The form ''sauvage''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1596 – A ''sauvage'', member of a primitive people.^(TLFi)

+ * 1632 – ''Sauvagesse'', in America.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1739 – ''Sauvagerie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of animals, [[m|en|wild]], not domesticated: ''les animaux sauvages'', ''canard, oie sauvage''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of plants, growing wild, uncultivated.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of places, wild, untouched, uninhabited.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' Uncivilized, primitive; rough, coarse.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Unsociable, shy, keeping to oneself.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Fierce, violent, [[m|en|savage]].^(TLFi)

+ # Unregulated, unauthorized.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dated, offensive)'' A member of a primitive people, a savage, ''(North America, obsolete)'' a Native American.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who shuns company, a loner.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ensauvager]]

+ * [[sauvagement]]

+ * [[sauvagerie]]

+ * [[sauvagesse]]

+ * [[sauvageon]]

+ * [[sauvagine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sylvestre]]

+ * [[la|silva]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Canadian French ''chat sauvage'' is the [[m|en|raccoon]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}