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PlainSpell

save

/seɪv/verb, noun, preposition, conjunction

save is spelled S-A-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 138 times per million words in written English, the 756th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, save means “To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in save?

Letters4: S-A-V-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing138 times per million words; the 756th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is save?

Save appears 138 times per million words in written English, the 756th 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 save?

  • US /seɪv/
  • Australia /sæɪv/
  • /sev/

Save has one syllable (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: En-us-save.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-save.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with save?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as save from its last stressed vowel (/eɪv/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: vase, seva.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of save

  • saves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • saving participle, present
  • saved participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does save mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm.

    She was saved from drowning by a passer-by.

  2. 2

    To keep (something) safe; to safeguard.

  3. 3

    To spare (somebody) from effort, or from something undesirable.

  4. 4

    To redeem or protect someone from eternal damnation.

    Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

  5. 5

    To catch or deflect (a shot at goal).

  6. 6

    To preserve, as a relief pitcher, (a win of another pitcher's on one's team) by defending the lead held when the other pitcher left the game.

  7. 7

    To store for future use.

    Let's save the packaging in case we need to send the product back.

  8. 8

    To conserve or prevent the wasting of.

    Save electricity by turning off the lights when you leave the room.

noun

  1. 1

    An instance of preventing (further) harm or difficulty.

  2. 2

    In various sports, a block that prevents an opponent from scoring.

    The goaltender made a great save.

  3. 3

    A successful attempt by a relief pitcher to preserve the win of another pitcher on one's team.

    Jones retired seven to earn the save.

  4. 4

    slangA point in a professional wrestling match when one or more wrestlers run to the ring to aid a fellow wrestler who is being beaten.

    The giant wrestler continued to beat down his smaller opponent, until several wrestlers ran in for the save.

  5. 5

    informalAn action that brings one back out of an awkward situation.

    Nice save.

  6. 6

    The act, process, or result of saving data to a storage medium.

    If you're hit by a power cut, you'll lose all of your changes since your last save.

  7. 7

    A saving throw.

preposition

  1. 1

    Except; with the exception of.

conjunction

  1. 1

    Unless; except.

    Only the parties may institute proceedings, save where the law shall provide otherwise.

noun

as SAVE
  1. 1

    Acronym of synthetic attenuated viral engineering

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

Save in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsauver (to help someone to survive, or rescue someone), sauvegarder, épargner, préserver, protéger (to keep safe; to safeguard), arrêt (block that prevents an opponent from scoring)
Germanretten (to help someone to survive, or rescue someone), erretten (Christianity: to redeem or protect someone from…), sichern, speichern (to store for future use), sparen (to conserve or prevent the wasting of)
Portugueseajudar, salvar, socorrer (to help someone to survive, or rescue someone), defesa (block that prevents an opponent from scoring), armazenar, estocar (to store for future use)
Spanishsalvar, rescatar (to help someone to survive, or rescue someone), redimir (Christianity: to redeem or protect someone from…), ahorrar, guardar (to store for future use), parar (to sports: to catch or deflect a shot at goal)

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 save come from?

From Middle English saven, sauven, a borrowing from Old French sauver, from Late Latin salvāre (“to save”). Displaced native Old English nerian.

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

What to look up after save