- save (v.)
- early 13c., "to deliver (one's soul) from sin and its consequences;" mid-13c., "to deliver or rescue from peril," from O.Fr. sauver, from L.L. salvare "make safe, secure," from L. salvus "safe" (see safe (adj.)). Meaning "store up, to keep instead of spending" is attested from mid-14c.; savings "money hoarded up" is from 1737; savings bank is 1817 (S & L for savings and loan attested from 1951). Save face (1898) first was used among the British community in China and is said to be from Chinese; it has not been found in Chinese, but tiu lien "to lose face" does occur. To not (do something) to save one's life is recorded from 1848. Phrase saved by the bell (1932) is from boxing.
- save (n.)
- in the sports sense of "act of preventing opponent from scoring," 1890, from save (v.).
- save (prep.)
- c.1300, from safe (q.v.), paralleling evolution in O.Fr. sauf "safe," prepositional use of the adj., in phrases such as saulve l'honneur "save (our) honor."