salve

¹ American  

[sav, sahv] / sæv, sɑv /

noun

1. a medicinal ointment for healing or relieving wounds and sores.

2. anything that soothes, mollifies, or relieves.

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verb (used with object)

salved, salving

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

   to salve one's conscience.

   Synonyms:

   mollify, alleviate, ease

salve ² American  

[salv] / sælv /

verb (used with or without object)

salved, salving

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

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salve ³ American  

[sal-vee, sahl-wey] / ˈsæl vi, ˈsɑl weɪ /

interjection

1. hail!

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salve ¹ British  

/ sælv, sɑːv /

noun

1. an ointment for wounds, sores, etc

2. anything that heals or soothes

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verb

1. to apply salve to (a wound, sore, etc)

2. to soothe, comfort, or appease

salve ² British  

/ sælv /

verb

1. a less common word for salvage

2. an archaic word for save 1

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Cheaper money is always a salve for the economy.

From MarketWatch

Cheaper money is always a salve for the economy.

From MarketWatch

The heroism by a Muslim immigrant has been a salve to intercommunal wounds.

From The Wall Street Journal

More than that, some are betting that AI and robotics will be the salve to our nation’s debt troubles.

From The Wall Street Journal

For him, their beauty is a salve — an opportunity to abandon reality and cast himself in a role that doesn’t actually exist for him.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alleviate
• assuage
• mollify
• pacify
• unburden