salve
/sɑːv/
"salve" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“salve” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,747 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,747
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ointment, cream, or balm with soothing, healing, or calming effects.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | salve |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɑːv/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #36,747 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “salve” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for salve is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɑːv/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,747 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for salve, with forms such as "aslve", "salev", and "sallve". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sav", "SLE", "same", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From 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), Ol… The correct English form is salve, spelled S-A-L-V-E.
Definition
- 1An ointment, cream, or balm with soothing, healing, or calming effects.
- 2Any remedy or action that soothes or heals.
Etymology
From 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 (élpos).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aslve,salev,sallve,salvve,savle,ssalve
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of salve - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "salve"?
What does "salve" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "salve"?
How do you pronounce "salve"?
What is the origin of the word "salve"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “salve”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-L-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɑːv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sav” - see the side-by-side comparison. salve vs sav
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.