Salvus

Salvus is a Latin adjective meaning safe, healthy, or sound. The masculine form is salvus, the feminine salva, and the neuter salvum. In classical Latin, salvus describes a person or thing free from danger or injury, or in good health, and it can modify nouns in various syntactic positions.

In inscriptions and literary usage, salvus often occurs in phrases that express safety or recovery from peril. A common formula is salvus et incolumis, meaning safe and unharmed, used to convey protection or a successful return from danger. The related noun salus denotes welfare or safety more broadly and appears in well-known expressions and maxims, such as Salus populi suprema lex esto, which links public welfare to law.

In linguistic and philological contexts, salvus is primarily encountered as a grammatical form within Latin texts and in discussions of Latin etymology. It can also surface as a personal name or in place names, reflecting the common practice of using Latin adjectives as identifiers in modern naming.

In the history of the English language, the Latin root salvage- appears in words such as salvage and salvation, deriving from Latin salvare or salvatio and sharing a semantic lineage with safety, preservation, and deliverance.

See also: salus, salvation, salvage.