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salvage

/ˈsælvɪd͡ʒ/noun, verb

salvage is spelled S-A-L-V-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “salvage vs savage” about 20 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, salvage means “The rescue of a ship, its crew and passengers or its cargo from a hazardous situation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of salvage is salvages.

How many letters and syllables are in salvage?

Letters7: S-A-L-V-A-G-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is salvage?

Salvage appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce salvage?

  • /ˈsælvɪd͡ʒ/

Salvage has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-salvage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with salvage

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

salvage vs savage20 G

Also written: savage.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of salvage

  • salvages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • salvaging participle, present
  • salvaged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does salvage mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The rescue of a ship, its crew and passengers or its cargo from a hazardous situation.

  2. 2

    The ship, crew or cargo so rescued.

  3. 3

    The compensation paid to the rescuers.

  4. 4

    The money from the sale of rescued goods.

  5. 5

    The similar rescue of property liable to loss; the property so rescued.

  6. 6

    The process of acquiring, dismantling, and stocking the pieces of old property such as ships, houses, and vehicles, so that they can be sold on to be reused or recycled.

  7. 7

    Anything put to good use that would otherwise have been wasted, such as damaged goods.

    salvage cars auction

  8. 8

    Summary execution, extrajudicial killing.

verb

  1. 1

    To rescue.

  2. 2

    To modify (a false proposition) to create a true proposition.

    Prove or disprove, and salvage if possible.

  3. 3

    To put to use.

  4. 4

    To make new or restore for the use of being saved.

  5. 5

    To perform summary execution.

  6. 6

    To apprehend and execute (a suspected criminal) without trial.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Salvage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsauvetage (the rescue of a ship or its cargo from a…), rescapé (the ship, crew or cargo so rescued), récompense (the compensation paid to the rescuers), récupération (anything that has been put to good use that…), sauver, secourir (to rescue)
GermanBergung (the rescue of a ship or its cargo from a…), Geborgene, Bergegut (the ship, crew or cargo so rescued), Bergelohn (the compensation paid to the rescuers), B-Ware, C-Ware (anything that has been put to good use that…)
Spanishsalvamento, rescate, salvataje (the rescue of a ship or its cargo from a…), objeto salvado, objeto rescatado (the ship, crew or cargo so rescued), material recuperado (anything that has been put to good use that…)
Portuguesereaproveitamento (anything that has been put to good use that…), reaproveitar, reutilizar (to put to use)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does salvage come from?

From Old French salver (see also save, from a variant form), from Late Latin salvare (“to make safe, secure, save”), from Latin salvus (“safe”) with the English suffix -age.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after salvage