savage

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English adjective savage, saveage, sauvage, salvage, from Old French sauvage, salvage, savage, Anglo-French sawage, from Medieval Latin salvāticus, for Latin silvāticus, equivalent to silv(a) “woods” + -āticus adjective suffix; noun derivative of the adjective

1. See cruel.

English savage is also spelled saveage, sauvage, salvage in Middle English. Middle English also has the spellings Sawage and Suvage for surnames. The Middle English forms come from Old French sauvage, salvage, savage and Anglo-French sawage. The Old French and Anglo-French forms come from Medieval Latin salvāticus, a modification of Latin silvāticus “pertaining to forests or scrubland,” a derivative of the noun silva “woodlands, forest.”
The (now offensive) noun sense “a member of a preliterate people regarded as uncivilized” dates from the second half of the 16th century. The senses “cruel, brutal person” and “rude, uncouth person” both date from the early 17th century.