Safe

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /seɪf/

Definitions

1. Free from harm, danger, or risk to health or well-being ; a strong lockable box used for securing valuables or important items ; protected from theft, damage, or loss
2. Not exposed to danger or likely to cause injury ; a secure container designed to prevent unauthorized access to contents ; guaranteed to be reliable or free from harm in usage or condition
3. Providing protection against harm or risk ; a locked storage unit for money, documents, or valuables ; dependable and unlikely to fail or cause problems when utilized

Etymology: Old English had a perfectly good word for "safe" that English eventually abandoned. "Sicor," meaning secure or sure, was pushed aside when Middle English borrowed "sauf" from Old French. The French word came from Latin "salvus," meaning "whole" or "unhurt," which is also the source of "salvation" and "salvage." So the idea behind "safe" is wholeness: a person or thing that has come through intact. The Latin root reached Old French as "sauf," "saulf," and "salf," and English adopted it in Middle English in several spellings, including "sauf," "saf," and "saaf," before settling on the form we use today. Those spelling variants show how unsettled the word was before standard spelling took hold. The earlier Latin word traces back to a Proto-Italic form and further to a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root meaning "whole."

Synonyms: secure, protected, sound

Antonyms: dangerous, unsafe, risky