salvation

[sal-vey-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.

2. the state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.

3. a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.

4. Theology.,  deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.

salvation

/ sælˈveɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of preserving or the state of being preserved from harm

2. a person or thing that is the means of preserving from harm

3. Christianity deliverance by redemption from the power of sin and from the penalties ensuing from it

4. Christian Science the realization that Life, Truth, and Love are supreme and that they can destroy such illusions as sin, death, etc

salvation

¹

1. Being “saved” among Christians (see also Christian); salvation is freedom from the effects of the Fall of Man. This freedom comes through faith in Jesus, who is called in the New Testament “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” The Apostles taught that those who experience salvation in their lifetime on Earth and continue in their friendship with God will inherit eternal happiness in heaven.

salvation

²

1. In Christianity, union or friendship with God and deliverance from original sin (see also original sin) and damnation. Jesus promised salvation to his followers.

Other Word Forms

• salvational adjective
• nonsalvation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of salvation¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English salvatio(u)n, from Late Latin salvātiōn-, stem of salvātiō “deliverance, saving,” from salvāt(us) “saved” (past participle of salvāre “to save”; save ¹ ) + -iō -ion ( def. ); replacing Middle English sa(u)vaciun, sauvacion, from Old French sauvacion, from Late Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of salvation¹

C13: from Old French sauvacion, from Late Latin salvātiō, from Latin salvātus saved, from salvāre to _save ¹

Example Sentences

Labour is in a mess, and the party has to choose a new deputy who might be part of Sir Keir Starmer's salvation or, if it goes wrong, make a bad situation even worse.

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He saw inmates as his countrymen, and his faith taught him that nobody was beyond salvation; there was good in everyone.

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“Is there such a thing as a new story?” a character wonders, and the novel asks the same as it stages an age-old cycle of destruction and salvation in a fresh and memorable guise.

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For many Americans, the fact is that we inhabit a demon-haunted world, where fundamentalism and anti-rational beliefs offer not just answers, but also a sense of safety and salvation.

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Legend also casts it as the final resting place of pilgrims from across the world seeking salvation.

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Related Words

• deliverance 
• emancipation 
• liberation 
• pardon 
• redemption 
• restoration