Refine this word faster
Salve
Definitions
- 1 Hail; a greeting.
- 1 An ointment, cream, or balm with soothing, healing, or calming effects. countable, uncountable
- 2 anything that remedies or heals or soothes wordnet
- 3 Any remedy or action that soothes or heals. countable, uncountable
"Your forgiveness was a salve to my conscience and a balm to my wounded ego."
- 4 semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation wordnet
- 1 To calm or assuage. transitive
"She feels guilty for pampering him, and salves her conscience by bossily ordering him to go and fetch the clothes from the line[.]"
- 2 To save (the appearances or the phenomena); to explain (a celestial phenomenon); to account for (the apparent motions of the celestial bodies). obsolete
- 3 To say “salve” to; to greet; to salute. transitive
"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: […]"
- 4 apply a salve to, usually for the purpose of healing wordnet
- 5 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.""
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To resolve (a difficulty); to refute (an objection); to harmonize (an apparent contradiction). obsolete
"He which should hold it more rational to make the whole Universe move, and thereby to salve the Earths mobility, is more unreasonable...."
- 7 save from ruin, destruction, or harm wordnet
- 8 To heal; to remedy; to cure; to make good.
"But Ebranck salved both their infamies / With noble deedes."
- 9 To explain away; to mitigate; to excuse. obsolete
- 10 To salvage. dated
"The interior woodwork was largely salved from the two cars, as well as the majority of the fittings and seats."
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).
From Old English sealfian, from Proto-West Germanic *salbōn, from Proto-Germanic *salbōną, from *salbō (whence salve (noun)).
From Latin salvō (“to save”).
From Latin salvē. The verb is from the interjection.
From Latin salvē. The verb is from the interjection.
See also for "salve"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: salve