salve
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salve¹
- /sɑːv/ UK
- /sælv/ UK
- /sæ(l)v/ US
Rhymes with -ɑːv, -ælv, -æv
Where it comes from
From Middle English salve, from Old English sealf, from Proto-West Germanic *salbu, from Proto-Germanic *salbō, from Proto-Indo-European *solp-éh₂, from *selp- (“salve, ointment”).
Cognates
Cognate with Middle Low German salve (Danish salve, Dutch zalf), Old High German salba (German Salbe), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍉𐌽𐍃 (salbōns), Albanian gjalpë (“butter”), Sanskrit सर्पिस् (sarpís), Ancient Greek ἔλπος (élpos).
noun salves
- An ointment, cream, or balm with soothing, healing, or calming effects.
- Any remedy or action that soothes or heals. Your forgiveness was a salve to my conscience and a balm to my wounded ego.
salve²
- /sɑːv/ UK
- /sælv/ UK
- /sæ(l)v/ US
Rhymes with -ɑːv, -ælv, -æv
Where it comes from
From Old English sealfian, from Proto-West Germanic *salbōn, from Proto-Germanic *salbōną, from *salbō (whence salve (noun)).
verb salves · salving · salved
- To calm or assuage. She feels guilty for pampering him, and salves her conscience by bossily ordering him to go and fetch the clothes from the line[.]
- To heal by applications or medicaments; to apply salve to; to anoint. I do beseech your majesty […] salve the long-grown wounds of my intemperance."
- To heal; to remedy; to cure; to make good. But Ebranck salved both their infamies / With noble deedes.
- To salvage. The interior woodwork was largely salved from the two cars, as well as the majority of the fittings and seats.
salve³
- /sɑːv/ UK
- /sælv/ UK
- /sæ(l)v/ US
Rhymes with -ɑːv, -ælv, -æv
Where it comes from
From Latin salvō (“to save”).
verb salves · salving · salved
- To save (the appearances or the phenomena); to explain (a celestial phenomenon); to account for (the apparent motions of the celestial bodies).
- To resolve (a difficulty); to refute (an objection); to harmonize (an apparent contradiction). He which should hold it more rational to make the whole Universe move, and thereby to salve the Earths mobility, is more unreasonable....
- To explain away; to mitigate; to excuse.
salve⁴
- /sɑːv/ UK
- /sælv/ UK
- /sæ(l)v/ US
Rhymes with -ɑːv, -ælv, -æv
Where it comes from
From Latin salvē. The verb is from the interjection.
interjection
- Hail; a greeting.
verb salves · salving · salved
- To say “salve” to; to greet; to salute. By this that ſtraunger knight in preſence came, / And goodly ſalued them; who nought againe / Him anſwered, as courteſie became, / But with ſterne lookes, and ſtomachous diſdaine, / Gaue ſignes of grudge and diſcontentment vaine: […]
Translations
Every language
noun ointment, cream or balm
| Español | ungüento, pomada, bálsamo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 연고 yeon'go |
| 日本語 | 軟膏 nankō |
| 中文 | 藥膏 /药膏 yàogāo, 軟膏 /软膏 ruǎngāo |
| Português | pomada |
| Français | onguent, pommade, baume |
| Deutsch | Salbe, Balsam |
| Italiano | unguento, balsamo, pomata |
| Ελληνικά | αλοιφή aloifí |
| Русский | бальза́м balʹzám, мазь mazʹ |
| العربية | مَرْهَم marham, زَبْدَة zabda, بَلْسَم balsam |
| עברית | מִשְׁחָה mishkha, צֳרִי tsori |
verb to salvage
| Italiano | salvare |
|---|
Talk about this word "salve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/salve. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. salve. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/salve "salve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/salve.Cite this
@misc{salve_2026,
title = {salve},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/salve},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
