salus

See also: sāļus

Esperanto

Verb

salus

1. conditional of sali

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *salūts, from earlier *solūts, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-uHts, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, completed”).

Cognates

From PIE: Faliscan 𐌔𐌀𐌋𐌖𐌄𐌔 (salues) and doublet of salvus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsa.ɫuːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsaː.lus]

Noun

salūs f (genitive salūtis); third declension

1. safety; security

   Synonyms: sēcūritās, impūnitās

2. health, well-being, welfare

   Synonyms: sānitās, valētūdō

   Antonyms: aegritūdō, morbus, malum, pestis, incommodum

   Salus populi suprema lex esto ― let the welfare of the people be the supreme law

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.42:

     Caesar, quod neque conloquium interposita causa tolli volebat neque salutem suam Gallorum equitatui committere audebat, commodissimum esse statuit omnibus equis Gallis equitibus detractis eo legionarios milites legionis X., cui quam maxime confidebat, imponere, ut praesidium quam amicissimum, si quid opus facto esset, haberet.

     Caesar, as he didn't want either the interview to be for any reason set aside or confide his wellbeing in the hands of the Gallic cavalry, said he saw as most fit the Gallic horsemen be stripped off their steeds and in their place mount legionaries of the 10th legion, in which he had the utmost faith, that he might have as trusted a body-guard as one could have if the occasion ever urged its use.

3. salvation, deliverance
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.354:

     Ūna salūs victīs: nūllam spērāre salūtem.

     The only salvation for the conquered: for no one to hope for salvation.
     (In other words, a sense of impending doom can impel bold actions, which in turn could unexpectedly alter the presumed outcome.)

4. greeting, salutation

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	salūs	salūtēs
genitive	salūtis	salūtum
dative	salūtī	salūtibus
accusative	salūtem	salūtēs
ablative	salūte	salūtibus
vocative	salūs	salūtēs

Derived terms

• prō salūte Imperātōris
• salūber
• salūbritās
• salūbriter
• salūtābundus
• salūtāris
• salūtātiō
• salūtātor
• salūtātōrius
• salūtātrīx
• salūtifer
• salūtiger
• salūtō

Related terms

• salvē
• salveō
• salvus

Descendants

• Asturian: salú
• Catalan: salut
• French: salut
• Friulian: salût
• Italian: salute
• Norman: salut
• Old Galician-Portuguese: saude
  • Galician: saúde
  • Portuguese: saúde
• Piedmontese: salute
• Romanian: sărut, salut (borrowing)
• Sardinian: saludu, saluru, salutu
• Spanish: salud

Further reading

• “salus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “salus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "salus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “salus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to sacrifice oneself for one's country: se morti offerre pro salute patriae
    
  • a man's life is at stake, is in very great danger: salus, caput, vita alicuius agitur, periclitatur, in discrimine est or versatur
    
  • to take measures for one's safety; to look after one's own interests: saluti suae consulere, prospicere
    
  • after mutual greeting: salute data (accepta) redditaque
    
  • to further the common weal: saluti rei publicae non deesse
    
  • to devote one's every thought to the state's welfare: omnes curas in rei publicae salute defigere (Phil. 14. 5. 13)
    
  • (ambiguous) to risk one's life: salutem, vitam suam in discrimen offerre (not exponere)
    
  • (ambiguous) to bring aid to; to rescue: auxilium, opem, salutem ferre alicui
    
  • (ambiguous) to deliver, rescue a person: salutem alicui afferre
    
  • (ambiguous) to effect a person's deliverance: salutem expedire
    
  • (ambiguous) to bless (curse) a person: precari alicui bene (male) or omnia bona (mala), salutem
    
  • (ambiguous) I drink your health: propīno tibi hoc (poculum, salutem)
    
  • (ambiguous) to greet a person: salutem alicui dicere, impertire, nuntiare
    
  • (ambiguous) Cicero sends cordial greetings to Atticus: Cicero Attico S.D.P. (salutem dicit plurimam)
    
  • (ambiguous) my best wishes for your welfare: tibi plurimam salutem
    
  • (ambiguous) remember me to your brother: nuntia fratri tuo salutem verbis meis (Fam. 7. 14)
    
  • (ambiguous) to add to one's letter good wishes to some one: adscribere alicui salutem (Att. 5. 20. 9)
    
  • (ambiguous) to devote oneself body and soul to the good of the state: totum et animo et corpore in salutem rei publicae se conferre
    
  • (ambiguous) to beg for mercy from the conqueror: salutem petere a victore
    
  • (ambiguous) to seek safety in flight: fuga salutem petere
    
• “salus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• salus in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “salus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray