salve

C1 Topic:The Human Body

US /sæ(l)v/ UK /sɑːv/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like solve /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #26001

Meanings

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.
2

noun
Something that comforts or eases a painful feeling.

His kind words were a salve to her wounded pride.
3

verb
To calm or ease an unpleasant feeling, especially guilt.

He salved his conscience by donating to charity.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms salvedsalvessalving

Derived forms eyesalvesalvabilitysalvablesalvagesalveesalvelikesalversalvorunsalvedweapon-salve

Simplified etymology

Salve goes back to Old English and derives from a Germanic base meaning “clarified butter.” Its Dutch cognate salf formed the second element of quacksalver, the source of quack for a fraudulent medical practitioner.

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).

*selp- Proto-Indo-European salve Middle English sealf Old English *salbu Proto-West Germanic *salbō Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# salve

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /sæ(l)v/
**IPA (UK):** /sɑːv/
**Frequency rank:** 26001

## Meanings
1. A soothing cream or ointment put on the skin to heal it.
2. Something that comforts or eases a painful feeling.
3. To calm or ease an unpleasant feeling, especially guilt.

## Examples
- She rubbed a soothing salve on the burn before bandaging it.
- His kind words were a salve to her wounded pride.
- He salved his conscience by donating to charity.

## Derived Forms
- eyesalve
- salvability
- salvable
- salvage
- salvee
- salvelike
- salver
- salvor
- unsalved
- weapon-salve

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *selp-
- Root: salve
- Root: sealf
- Root: *salbu
- Root: *salbō

## 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).

## AI Etymology
Salve is 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 include 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). In present-day use, it can mean a soothing cream or ointment put on the skin to heal it, or something that comforts or eases a painful feeling. Derived formations include eyesalve, salvability, salvable, salvage, salvee.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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