▪ I. salve, n.1
(sælv, sɑːv)
Forms: 1 salb, salf, sealf, sealfe, 2 sealfe, 3 (Orm.) sallfe, 4 sealve, (salft), 4–5 salf, save, Sc. sawve, 4–9 Sc. saw, 5 salffe, 6 saulve, Sc. saufe, 7 sawf, 3– salve.
[OE. sealf fem. = OS. salƀa, MLG. salve (whence MSw. salva, Sw. salfva, Da. salve), MDu. salve, salf (Du. zalf), OHG. salpa, salba fem., salb, salp neut. (MHG., G. salbe fem.):—OTeut. *salbā str. fem.:—pre-Teut. *solp{amacacu}, cogn. w. Skr. sarp{iacu}s clarified butter, sṛpra greasy, and Albanian {gacu}alpe butter; perh. also with Gr. ὄλπη, ὄλπις oil-flask.]
1. a. A healing ointment for application to wounds or sores. See also eyesalve, lipsalve.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 635 Malagma, salb. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 110 Ᵹenim þas yclan wyrte, wyrc to salfe [v.rr. sealfe, sealue]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark xiv. 5 Þeos sealf mihte beon ᵹeseald to þrim hund peneᵹum. c 1200 Ormin 6477 Þe þridde þatt teȝȝ gæfenn himm Wass an full deore sallfe,..Myrra bi name nemmnedd. a 1225 Ancr. R. 370 Ure Louerdes sonde þet brouhte hire salue uorto helen hire tittes. c 1315 Shoreham i. 18 And for þe goute sealue Me makeþe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlvi. (Anastace) 102 Bot mekly vald scho wesch þar fet, & with softe sawis þare saris bet. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 631 Now kan nat Canacee but herbes delue Out of the ground and make saues [v.r. salues] newe. 14.. Sir Beues 605 (MS. M.) With drinke and salffe she helid hym softe. 1530 Palsgr. 729/1, I splette a saulve abrode upon a clothe, je placque. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 21 If an old wife had openly applied her one salve for all sores. 1704 W. King Orpheus & Eurydice 152 She..bade him 'noint himself with salve; Such as those hardy people use, Who walk on fire without their shoes. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Obs. 242 Linen spread over with spermaceti salve. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xlv, 'Twill hurt, but here are salves to friend you, And many a balsam grows on ground. |
b. Formerly often (now arch.) in proverbial collocation with sore.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27397 Til all sares sere es sett, salues sere to be wit bett. 1399 Gower Praise of Peace 122 Ley to this olde sor a newe salve. 1575–85 Abp. Sandys Serm. xxi. 363 Where there is no sore, there needes no salue. 1671 Milton Samson 184 Or if better, Counsel or Consolation we may bring, Salve to thy Sores. 1825 Jamieson s.v. Saw, Ye hae a saw for ilka sair. |
c. A mixture, usually of tar and grease, for smearing sheep.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §44 To make brome salue [for sheep]. 1837 Youatt Mountain Sheph. Man. 31 The scab—a disease which the common salve, made of tar and grease, seems effectually to resist. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1117 This compound..forms a salve for 100 sheep. |
| fig. 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man 129 b, As when we saye of a wanton childe, this shepe hath magottes in his tayle, he must be anoynted with byrchin salve, which speach I borow of the shephardes. |
2. fig. a. A remedy (esp. for spiritual disease, sorrow, and the like). Now rare. See also 1 b.
| c 1200 Ormin 13489 Jesumm Mannkinne sawle sallfe,..Himm hafe we nu fundenn. c 1225 Ancr. R. 276 Prudes salue is edmodnesse. a 1250 Owl & Night. 888 Ich helpe monne on eiþer halue, Mi muþ haueþ tweire kunne salue. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 1133 Þank we now oure sa[u]youre, þat salue vs haþ broȝt, Oure syke soules to saue, whan synne haþ hem soȝt. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 370 Contricioun..Þat is the souereynest salue for alkyn synnes. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1245, I am so drad of monyes scantnesse..Wisseth me how to gete a golden salue. c 1430 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 203 And to my soule goosteli salue þou sende! 1563 Homilies ii. Repentance ii. (1859) 541 That they may receive at their hand the comfortable salve of God's word. 1574 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 766 Schir, ȝe knaw, This raritie will be ane saw, To mak the word estemit moir Nor euir it was heirtofoir. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 457 Wherefore we have devised these letters as a salve for this mischiefe. c 1610 Rowlands Terrible Batt. 8 Sinne hath no salue but mercy. |
b. esp. Something which serves to soothe wounded feelings or honour, a tender conscience, etc.
This use has prob. developed from a misinterpretation or punning acceptation of phrases containing salve n.4
| 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 669/1 This however was no Salve for the tender Consciences of the Quakers. 1856 Merivale Rom. Emp. xli. (1865) V. 115 For them Horace had a salve in his specious disparagement of illustrious parentage. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, Ranald had this salve for his conscience. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. ii. 54 Let us hope that this little salve to self-esteem never lost its efficacy. |
c. slang. See quot., and cf. lipsalve.
| 1864 Hotten Slang Dict., Salve, praise, flattery, chaff. 1896 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 21 Nov., Put plenty o' sauve on him an' tha'll get owght aht on him 'at iver tha wants to. 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 21 Salve, getting on the right side of the arresting officer. 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 14/1 Spread the salve, soft, conciliatory talk. |
3. Comb., as salve-box.
| 1663 Cowley Cutter Colman St. iii. i, A Sawf-box for a Wounded Conscience. |
▪ II. † salve, n.2 Obs.
[a. F. salve (16th c.), ad. It. salva: see salvo. Cf. G. salve.]
A salvo or discharge of fire-arms.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1151/1 At whose arriuall there..they sounded their trumpets, & with a thundering peale of great ordinance gaue a lowd salue vnto the Britains. 1587 Sir R. Williams Let. to Leicester 29 June (MS. Cotton Galba D 1. 146–7), I and other English gentilmen will approch theire Boates in such sorte that we will force them to giue theire salue of Artillerie vppon vs. 1604 E. Grimstone Hist. Siege Ostend 182 They made a Salue, euery one of the Musketiers three shot. 1635 W. Barriffe Mil. Discipl. cxx. (1643) 420 A salve is when 2, 3, or more rankes powre out all their shot together in one volly. 1637 R. Monro Exped. ii. 66 They were prepared with a firme resolution to receive us with a salve of Cannon and Muskets. 1666 Lond. Gaz. No. 47/2 In which state they entred the City of Naples, where the..Spanish Garrison, welcomed them with the continued thunder of the Cannons and salves of small shot. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxxiv. 288 The Thundring of Nineteen hundred Canons at a Salve. |
▪ III. † salve, n.3 Obs.
[Origin and meaning obscure: perh. some error.]
Some kind of boat.
| 1588 D. Archdeacon tr. True Disc. Army K. Spain 36 There are 20. Carauels for the seruice of the aboue named Armie, and likewise 10 Saluës with sixe Oares a peece. [Reproduced by Strype, Tindal and Hume.] |
▪ IV. † salve, n.4 Obs.
[f. salve v.2 Cf. salvo n.1]
a. A solution of a difficulty; also, a sophistical excuse or evasion. b. A ‘salvo’ or means of ‘salving’ a person's honour, etc.
| a 1628 F. Grevil Sidney (1652) 11 In their losse.. there be buried many delicate images, and differences between the reall and large complexions of those active times, and the narrow salves of this effeminate age. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. xiii. 366 While we referre it unto the Moone, we give some satisfaction for the Ocean, but no generall salve for Creeks, and Seas which know no floud. 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xliv. 114 The worst point in the case was that the Duke was a Bastard,..nor was there other salve thereto but the Norman custom, that made no difference. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xi. 49 They will rather hazard their honour, which may be salved with an excuse; than their lives, for which no salve is sufficient. 1657 Treat. Conf. Sin vi. 109 A discourse not capable of a Roman salve, but needing the spunge throughout, with a deleatur. 1665 Glanvill Def. Van. Dogm. 24 Whether what is said be a clear salve or a shuffle. |
▪ V. ‖ salve, n.5
(ˈsælviː)
Also 6 salvy.
[L. salvē ‘hail!’, ‘good morning’, 2nd sing. imper. of salvēre to be well or in good health. Cf. F. salvé in sense 2 (14th c. in Godefroy).]
1. The utterance of the word salvē (see above) or its equivalent; a greeting or salutation on meeting.
| 1583 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 22 After he had curteously giuen her the Salue. Ibid. 196 To salute thee with a Salue. 1588 ― Metam. ibid. IX. 20 An interchange of salues passed, between her and me. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 176 His Salve, or Present, when he came to his Disciples, [was] Peace be with you. 1701 C. Wolley Jrnl. New York (1860) 56 But the amaze soon went off with a salve tu quoque, and a Bottle of Wine. |
2. (With capitial initial. More fully Salve Regina.) In the R.C. Ch., an antiphon, beginning ‘Salve, Regina’, now recited after the Divine Office from Trinity Sunday to Advent; also sung as a separate office or ‘devotion’. Also, a musical setting for this.
| 1428 E.E. Wills (1882) 81 Also to-fore oure ladi in Senct Marie Chapell..1 Tapre of a pounde, to brenne euery euen of oure lady, and þ⊇ day as atte salue. 1486 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 5 That he be euery Day in the same Chirch after evensong, at the tyme of syngyng of Salue Regina. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 277 Item we fynde that for defaute of good prouision bothe of the chirche wardeyns and also of the mastirs of the salue, neither the priestis nor clarkis that ben retayned for the chirche wil nat com to our lady masse nor salue. 1557–8 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 103 For the Syngyn men that song' at Salvy. c 1570 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 149 He dyd dyvers tymes help to singe salvaes at mattynes and even songe. 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. III. 529 The salmi, stabat maters, misereres, and salve reginas, with solo airs. 1888 Century Mag. Aug. 495/2 It is the hour of the Compline, the Salve, and the Angelus. |
b. attrib., as † Salve time; † Salve-light, a candle lighted during the singing of the Salve.
| 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 114, ij Tapers to stonde on the Auter of our lady..þer to be lighte and brenne at Salue tyme. 1486 Will of W. Cromwell in Misc. Gen. & Her. Ser. iii. I. 95 To the lighting of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same chapel, called Salvelight. |
▪ VI. salve, v.1
(sælv, sɑːv)
Forms: 1 sealfian, 3 Ormin sallfenn, 5 salf(e, sauf, save, 6 sawve, (9 dial. sauve, soave, sove), 3– salve.
[OE. sealfian = OFris. salvia, OS. salƀon, MLG. salven (mod.LG. salven, salfen; Da. salve from LG.), MDu. salven (Du. zalven), OHG. salbôn (MHG. and mod.G. salben), Goth. salbôn:—OTeut. *salƀōjan, f. *salbā salve n.1]
1. a. trans. To anoint (a wound, wounded part) with salve or healing unguent. Obs. or arch.
| a 800 Erfurt Gloss. 325 Delibutus, ᵹisalbot. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 406/13 Fotam, sealfode. a 1400–50 Alexander 3132 (Dubl.) He gart seke þair sarys & þaim salue with suurgers noble. 1530 Palsgr. 697/2, I salve, or playster a sore bodye with salves, je emplastre. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 17 Where many skilfull leaches him abide To salve his hurts, that yet still freshly bled. 1650 S. Clarke Eccl. Hist. i. (1654) 38 Where is he that salved and cured him which was wounded by the Theives? 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. ii. xxvi. 176 There are some, who by all means would have Fractures salved and annointed. 1822 Scott Nigel viii, Marry, her husband that made the weapon might have salved the wound. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxiii, Is there a wound on your limbs, which my hands have not salved? |
† b. To anoint to an office. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 13243, & Crist bitacneþþ uss þatt mann Þatt smeredd iss & sallfedd, Nohht þurrh nan eorþliȝ smere, acc all Þurrh Haliȝ Gastess sallfe. |
c. In figurative contexts, where the language is literal; esp. in phr. to salve a sore. † Also with up.
| c 1200 Ormin 9427 Alls iff he brohhte læchedom & herrtess eȝhesallfe, To sallfenn & to clennsenn firrst Þe folkess herrtess eȝhe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 194 Þe gostliche hurtes ne þuncheð nout sore, ne ne salueð ham mid schrifte. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvi. 15 Þou ert god my hele þat salues þe wounde of my syn. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9193 There is no medcyn on mold, saue the maiden one, þat my sors might salue, ne me sound make. c 1430 Lydg. Testament Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 248 Sauf al my soorys that they nat cankryd be With noon old rust of disesperaunce. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 52 Al which sores I haue salued vp with apt plasters. 1604 Churchyard (title) A blessed Balme to search and salve Sedition. 1623 T. Scot Tongue-Combat 54 Matters..did..salve vp this sore from further festring. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 249 Since plain speech salves the wound it seems to make. |
† d. intr. To smear salve upon a sore; in quot. fig. Obs. rare.
| 1579 Lodge Def. Poetry 42 But after your discrediting of playmaking, you salue vppon the sore somewhat. |
e. trans. To smear (sheep) with a mixture of tar and butter, or the like. Cf. grease v. 2.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §44 A medicyne to salue poore mennes shepe, that thynke terre to costely. 1544 Supplic. Hen. VIII (E.E.T.S.) 39 A shepherde..which nother wolde nor coulde feade, handle, salue, nor ones see his shepe commytted to his charge. 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. II. 349 To salve sheep, to dress them with tar and grease. 1860 Sir J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth Scarsdale II. 79 He would linger three or four days to help to ‘salve’ the sheep. |
† 2. a. In extended sense: To heal or remedy (a disease). Chiefly fig., to heal (sin, sorrow, etc.).
| 1411 26 Pol. Poems x. 164 Þe holy gost salueþ soule syknesse. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 7719 No tryacle may the venym saue. c 1450 Cov. Myst. xxvi. (Shaks. Soc.) 253 Alle your langoris salvyn xal he. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 320/1 We are not worthie that God should salve our sinnes gently and with a fatherly affection. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 187 But Christ salueth this disease, for he fulfilled the lawe for vs. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse (1598) D 3, Content thee sweet, ile salue thy sorrow straight. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. i. i. i. (1651) 220 They can..salve gouts, epilepsies [etc.]. 1624 Quarles Job Div. Poems (1717) 180 Why, rather, didst not thou remove my sin, And salve the sorrows that I raved in? |
† b. To heal (a person) of (sickness, sin, etc.).
Occas. found coupled with save (see quots. 1377, c 1470).
| a 1225 St. Marher. 22 Of þis sunne lauerd loke me nu salue. a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 202 For to saluen [Lamb. Hom. 187 sauuin] seke ine sunnen. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 212 Cryst to a comune woman seyde..Þat fides sua shulde sauen hir and saluen hir of alle synnes. Ibid. xx. 303 Go salue þo þat syke ben and þorw synne ywounded. c 1440 York Myst. xx. 266 Þe sight of þe Hath salued vs of all oure sore. Ibid. xxix. 263 He salued þame of sikenesse. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 793 The king..prayt to the grete God to grant him his grace, Him to saue and to salf. a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 599 His stripes are plasters to salve me. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. v. 43 For, seeking thus to salve the Amazon, She wounded was with her deceipts owne dart. |
† c. To soothe, mitigate, assuage (an ‘appetite’).
| 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 11 Neuer endeauoring to tame and salue their wilde appetites. |
† 3. a. fig. To heal, remedy, mend, make good, make up, smooth over (something amiss, a troubled state of affairs, a defect, offence, disgrace, dispute, etc.).
In many examples not distinguishable from salve v.2
| 1575 Fenton Gold. Epist. (1582) 246 They seeke not to salue what is amisse. 1579 E. K. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Ep. to Harvey ¶1, Which default whenas some endevoured to salve and recure. 1587 Greene Penelopes Web D j, The lady Barmenissa,..still salued her want with labour and her pouertie with patience. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 21 But Ebranck salved both their infamies With noble deedes. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 509 If my conjecture missed the truth, the confession of my errour may salue it. c 1622 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton i. i, To salve the infamy Of my disgraced house. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 341 Which, 'tis thought, will salve the difference betwixt the two houses about the treason bill. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Salve the Matter, to make up a Business, so as to come off well. 1712 Prideaux Direct. Ch.-wardens (ed. 4) 63 His Confirmation salved all defects. |
† b. with intensive up. Obs.
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xiii. (1596) 217 That steward, whom his master called to accompt, reseruing a good portion of the goods to his owne behoofe, salued vp all his reckonings, and got his quietus est. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 2 (1619) 571 These speaches are farre off from saluing vp the matter. 1656 Sir J. Finett For. Ambass. 222 In observation of which direction I repaired to them, salved up all as dextrously as I could. 1668 H. More Div. Dial. I. ii. 230 There will be a θεὸς ἀπὸ µηχανῆς, Christ coming in the Clouds, that shall salve up all. |
4. a. fig. (From sense 1, after phrases containing salve v.2) To soothe, ‘lay flattering unction to’ (irritated feeling, ‘wounded pride’, an uneasy conscience, etc.). Also to salve over.
| 1825 Lamb Unitarian Protests, So long as you Unitarians could salve your consciences with the équivoque. 1831 Campbell Power of Russia 70 Rome could impart what Russia never can—Proud civic right to salve submission's shame. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xiv, I salved over that feeling, being desirous to see everything in the brightest light. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xii, At first Chousam would hear of nothing but ‘l-a-w’. Bullfrog's wounded honour could only be salved that way. Ibid. xxv, Jack salved his conscience over with the old plea of duty. 1864 Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 144 Or any of the other benefits by which we seek to compensate the natives..and salve our own consciences. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xv. 343 A supreme satisfaction—salving over many wounds of vanity. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 373 In the endeavour to salve their wounded pride. |
b. to salve over: to talk over or persuade by smooth speech. colloq.
| 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Channings I. xi. 157 ‘Lady Augusta and Dr. Burrows are great friends, you know’; and we hear that they have been salving over Pye—’ ‘Gently, Tom!’ put in Mr. Channing. ‘Talking over Pye, then,’ corrected Tom. |
▪ VII. † salve, v.2 Obs.
[app. ad. L. salvāre to save.
In the astronomical sense 1, the L. form was prob. adopted because the vernacular save did not sufficiently indicate the technical import of the word. In this use the word became virtually equivalent to ‘solve’, ‘explain’, and it seems probable that sense 2 (though in our quots. appearing earlier) arose as a generalized application of this notion. The remaining uses were no doubt suggested by mod. Latin phrases like salvo jure, salvo honore, etc.; see salvo n.1]
1. Astr. To save (the appearances, the phenomena), i.e. to frame a hypothesis which will account for all the observed facts of the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies. Hence gen., to account for, explain by hypothesis. (Cf. solve v., used in the same phrases.)
| 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. vi. (1635) 140 To salue this Apparence, Ptolomy inuented a slow motion of the Starry Heauen. 1627 Hakewill Apol. ii. iv. §4. 95 Who to salue these different observations invented a new Hypothesis, which yet was not received by Astronomers of after times. 1635 Swan Spec. M. vi. §2 (1643) 207 Serving to no other purpose but to salve the annuall motion of the earth. 1646 [see phenomenon 1 c]. 1656 tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. iv. xxvi. 320 That circular motion (which is commonly attributed to them) about a fixed Axis,..is insufficient to salve their Appearances. 1662 Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring of Air ii. v. 57 To salve the Phænomena of the Torricellian Experiment. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §18 Such perplexities must needs arise, when men will undertake to salve the inward operations of the soul by meer motion. 1672 Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §8 A remarkable coincidence, which tho Astrology hath taken witty pains to salve, yet hath it been very wary in making predictions of it. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. xxix, Inventers, whose discoveries have only salved the Phœnomena. |
2. To clear up, explain, account for (a difficulty, point in dispute, etc.); to overcome (a doubt, objection); to harmonize or reconcile (a discrepancy).
| 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. xv. (1633) 48 Here Cambrensis to salve the contradiction, thinketh [etc.]. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 80 If the first doubt may be salued. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 475 So, by making the seventeenth yeare of Jeroboam to be newly begun, all may be salved. 1620 Sanderson Serm. ad Pop. ii. (1689) 172 As for those phrases then of Repenting, Grieving, &c., which are spoken of God in the Scriptures; that συγκατάβασις, whereof St. Chrysostom so often speaketh, salveth them. 1643 Milton Divorce ii. viii. Wks. 1851 IV. 80 What may we do then to salve this seeming inconsistence? 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. v. §20 To salve all, some have found out another Patrick, called Seniour, or Sen Patrick. 1676 W. Hubbard Happiness of People 3 The reason given by some Interpreters seems not sufficient to salve the Knot. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. iii. 82 And this does salve two Objections at once. 1686 R. Dunning Overseer of Poor 11 This Exception may be thus salved. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. (1724) 199 The objection before us, tho we could not salve the difficulties in it,..yet to be no prejudice against the belief of the immortality of the soul. 1744 Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. I conceive, this will not salve the matter at all. |
b. To explain away, excuse by a ‘salvo’.
| 1628 Prynne Cens. Cozens 73 What answer can you make to mittigate or salue this bloody and soule-slaying sinne? 1640 Bp. Hall Episc. ii. §20. 202 He flew out into some expressions indeed, but yet such as in other places he doth either salve or contradict. |
3. To render tenable, obviate the objections to (an opinion); to vindicate from incredibility (an alleged fact).
| 1596 Bell Surv. Popery iii. ix. 397 To salue their beggerly doctrine. 1635 Jackson Creed viii. xviii. §2 Such..labour to salve the truth of the Propheticall prediction. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iii. 19 But the soul subsisting, other matter clothed with due accidents, may salve the individuality. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 88 There was no way to salve the eternity or antiquity of the World..but by supposing innumerable deluges and deflagrations. 1701 Norris Ideal World i. v. 298 As the esse reale salves the infinity, so the esse formale does equally secure the ideality. 1720 Waterland Eight Serm. 116 To salve their Hypothesis, They make bold with the..Construction of the Words. |
4. To preserve or maintain unhurt (one's honour, credit, reputation, etc.). Hence, to preserve the credit of, make good (one's oath, etc.).
In the later examples prob. apprehended by the writers as a figurative use of salve v.1: see salve v.1 4.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 27 To salve his name And purchase honour to his friends behalve. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iv. ii, I devised a formal tale That salv'd your reputation. 1628 Hobbes tr. Thucyd. i. (1629) 65 marg., The Oracles were alwayes obscure, that evasion might be found to salue their credit. 1636 Massinger Bashful Lover v. i, My onely Child Being provided for, her honor salv'd too. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ Pref. 9 The gentleman hath in one respect salved the honor of his judgement. 1689 Evelyn Diary 15 Jan., They were all for a Regency, thereby to salve their oathes. 1697 T. Smith Voy. Constantinople in Misc. Cur. (1708) III. 7 The Seamen, to salve their Credit, and to excuse their Error,..pretended that we were set in by a strong Current. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 262 He was forced to make use of an Equivocation to salve his Oath. a 1711 Ken Christophil Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 433 His Truth in Threats to punish Guilt, Was salv'd in Blood of Jesus spilt. 1803 Malthus Popul. iv. vii. (1806) II. 402 Those who believe that the character of a woman is salved by such a forced engagement. 1814 Southey Roderick xxii. 133 An afterthought to salve decorum. |
b. refl. To save one's credit.
| 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ xii. 156 Unless perhaps they can think to salve themselves by saying [etc.]. |
c. With from: To clear from a charge or imputation of.
| 1685 Dryden Thren. August. 243 Charles left behind no harsh decree For schoolmen with laborious art To salve from cruelty. |
d. To save the credit of (an author).
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. ii. 182 In these considerations must Aristotle be salved, when hee affirmeth the heart of man is placed in the left side. |
▪ VIII. salve, v.3
(sælv)
[Back-formation from salvage.]
trans. To save (a ship, its cargo) from loss at sea; to save (property) from destruction by fire; to make salvage of.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Salve, to save or preserve: as To Salve a Ship or the Goods of it. 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5330/3 Clarets and White Wines salved..out of two Dutch Ships lost in January. 1796 J. Troutbeck Scilly Isl. 229 Part of her cargo was driven on shore, and..consisted of wine and oil. After it was salved, some of the inhabitants insisted on one half in kind. 1888 in Pall Mall G. 1 June 10/2 In 1886 this gun was salved, having lain nearly 100 years below the sea. 1901 Scotsman 11 Mar. 8/7 The Steamer..has stranded at the entrance to the harbour: means are being taken to lighten and salve her. |
| absol. 1885 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. (Cassell), Crews of twenty boats scattered all over the islands are salving as quickly as they can. |
Hence salved ppl. a., ˈsalving vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1869 Pall Mall G. 4 Oct. 7/2 The wreck lying in a favourable position for salving operations. 1884 Sir N. Lindley in Law Rep. 9 Probate Div. 203 The salving vessel is often herself exposed to imminent peril. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 8 Feb. 8/3 The value of the salved vessel was {pstlg}225,000. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log Sea-waif 113 The small craft which clung to our side receiving the salved cargo. |
▪ IX. salve
obs. form of safe, save.