salve

¹

[ sav, sahv ]

noun

1. a medicinal ointment for healing or relieving wounds and sores.
2. anything that soothes, mollifies, or relieves.

verb (used with object)

, salved, salv·ing.

1. to soothe with or as if with salve; assuage:

   to salve one's conscience.

   Synonyms: mollify, alleviate, ease

salve

²

[ salv ]

verb (used with or without object)

, salved, salv·ing.

1. to save from loss or destruction; to salvage.

salve

³

[ sal-vee; Latin sahl-wey ]

interjection

1. hail!

salve

¹

/ sælv; sɑːv /

noun

1. an ointment for wounds, sores, etc
2. anything that heals or soothes

verb

1. to apply salve to (a wound, sore, etc)
2. to soothe, comfort, or appease

salve

²

/ sælv /

verb

1. a less common word for salvage
2. an archaic word for save 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of salve¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun salve, salwe, salf(e), Old English sealf, salf; cognate with German Salbe “ointment, salve,” Sanskrit sarpís “melted butter, fat”; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of salve²

First recorded in 1700–10; back formation from salvage

Origin of salve³

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin salvē! literally, “be in good health!”; salute

Word History and Origins

Origin of salve¹

Old English sealf; related to Old High German salba, Greek elpos oil, Sanskrit sarpis lard

Origin of salve²

C18: from salvage

Example Sentences

Global warming would “put strictures on the economic growth that has been the great social salve that has kept some groups, in some measure, from each other’s throats,” he told his close friend Otis Graham, the University of California, Santa Barbara, historian.

From Salon

But his parents’ armor is biblical faith, especially in the power of forgiveness, which to their son is no cure-all but rather a hypocritical salve that ignores the root of the sin and the damage it has caused.

From Los Angeles Times

"It has been a salve to our broken hearts," she said.

From BBC

The bro-y media-makers, the Republican Party, and the church all have different ways of promising young men clarity, meaning, and respect, and all seek to be the salve to these men’s sense of displacement and aggrievement.

From Slate

But the idea has spread to first-trimester losses, and not solely as a salve for a grieving person; it’s also used to further conservative arguments against abortion.

From Slate

Related Words

• balm
• lotion