savage

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Translations 1.5 Verb 1.5.1 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old French sauvage, < salvage (“‘lang-fro’”), from Late Latin salvaticus, alteration of Latin silvaticus (“‘wild", lit. "of the woods’”), from silva (“‘forest", "grove’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

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[edit] Adjective

savage (comparative more savage, superlative most savage)

1. wild; not cultivated
2. barbaric; not civilized
   • 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     ...I observed a place where there had been a fire made, and a circle dug in the earth, like a cockpit, where I supposed the savage wretches had sat down to their human feastings upon the bodies of their fellow-creatures.

3. fierce and ferocious
4. brutal, vicious, or merciless

   That woman across the street died from a savage murder.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

savage (plural savages)

1. A savage person.
2. (figuratively) A defiant person.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to savage (third-person singular simple present savages, present participle savaging, simple past and past participle savaged) (transitive)

1. To attack or assault someone or something ferociously or without restraint.
2. (figuratively) To criticise vehemently.

   His latest film was savaged by most reviewers.

3. (of an animal) To attack with the teeth

[edit] Translations