Meanings
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1
noun
A soothing cream or ointment put on the skin to heal it.
She rubbed a soothing salve on the burn before bandaging it.
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2
noun
Something that comforts or eases a painful feeling.
His kind words were a salve to her wounded pride.
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3
verb
To calm or ease an unpleasant feeling, especially guilt.
He salved his conscience by donating to charity.
Thesaurus
Etymology
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).