Meaning

noun semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation

noun anything that remedies or heals or soothes

verb save from ruin, destruction, or harm

originFrom Middle English salve, from Old English sealf, from Proto-West Germanic *salbu, from Proto-Germanic *salbō, from Proto-Indo-European *solp-éh₂, from *selp- (“salve, ointment”). Cognates Cognate with Middle Low German salve (Danish salve, Dutch zalf), Old High German salba (German Salbe), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍉𐌽𐍃 (salbōns), Albanian gjalpë (“butter”), Sanskrit सर्पिस् (sarpís), Ancient Greek ἔλπος…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0