Savagen.2
/ˈsavɪdʒ/, U.S. /ˈsævᵻdʒ/ I. Compounds.
1. attributive. Designating any of various firearms produced by Arthur Savage or by the Savage Arms Company, esp. a hammerless lever-action repeating rifle.The Savage rifle was patented in 1893 and the Savage Arms Company set up in 1894 to produce it.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > small arms by manufacturer
Springfield1813
Remington1846
Sharps1850
Smith & Wesson1859
Savage1892
Parabellum1904
Webley1911
Walther1920
Tokarev1953
Armalite1958
1892 Ann. Rep. Secretary of War (U.S. War Dept.) III. 170 The Savage gun was ready for trial.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 657/2 The Savage magazine rifle, model 1899, is a ‘hammerless’, lever-action repeating arm.
1916 Fur News Feb. 17/1 For guns I have a .22 Savage repeater, which I bought in the summer to shoot squirrels with.
1964 H. L. Peterson Encycl. Firearms 30/2 This system was later used by the Mexican Obregon pistol and in a slightly modified form by Savage pistols.
2004 R. D. Rogers Living beyond Danger Zone xiii. 86 I readied my .300 Savage rifle in case of trouble.
II. Simple uses.
2. A firearm produced by Arthur Savage or the Savage Arms Company, esp. a hammerless lever-action repeating rifle.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > [noun] > type of firearm > by manufacturer
Whitworth1858
Springfield1862
Krupp1883
Savage1893
Skoda1902
1893 Ann. Rep. Secretary of War (U.S. War Dept.) III. 138 The Savage, caliber .30 (No. 3 on list of guns), submitted by Arthur Savage, Utica, N.Y.
1903 Kynoch Jrnl. Feb. 62/1 I had my ·301 Savage.
1957 Michigan State Police Ann. Rep. 1956 15/1 When Luckey glanced in the kitchen window he saw Richards sitting on the floor with a rifle across his legs. It was a .300 Savage.
2008 Field & Stream Dec. 94 Here are the 10 deer rifles that I favor above all others. The Savage is my favorite.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
savageadj.n.1
/ˈsavɪdʒ/, U.S. /ˈsævɪdʒ/α. Middle English saffage, Middle English saueage, Middle English savaige, Middle English 1600s sauuage, Middle English–1600s sauage, Middle English–1600s sauvage, Middle English– savage, 1500s sauadge, 1500s savvage, 1600s savadg, 1600s savadge; Scottish pre-1700 saffage, pre-1700 sauadge, pre-1700 sauage, pre-1700 sauuage, pre-1700 savadge, pre-1700 savage, pre-1700 savaige, pre-1700 sawage, pre-1700 sawwage, pre-1700 souage, pre-1700 sowage.
β. Middle English salvagh, Middle English–1600s saluage, Middle English–1800s (1900s– Scottish) salvage, 1500s silvage, 1500s sylvage, 1600s salvadge, 1700s selvige.
A. adj.
I. That is in a state of nature, wild.
1. Of an animal: wild, undomesticated, untamed. Also: of or belonging to a wild or untamed animal. In later use chiefly with connotations of ferocity, merging with sense A. 6b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > untamed
wildc725
untemeda1000
savagea1275
ramagec1300
untameda1340
untamea1382
ramageousa1398
tameless1597
unreclaimed1614
indomite1617
immansuete1656
feral1659
myall1848
wilding1853
maroon1890
undomesticated1972
α.
β. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 148v Ye partie had the mynde or stomake, not of a manne, but of a veraye brute and salvage beaste.1550 J. Coke Deb. Heraldes Eng. & Fraunce sig. Avijv We haue almaner of bestes saluages that you haue and more plente of them to chase.1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer i. 815 Whom late the salvage Bore..Hath rooted up, with purpose to devoure.a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 39 Lyons, and other Salvage Creatures.a1275 Body & Soul (Trin. Cambr. B.14.39) l. 30 in A. S. M. Clark Seint Maregrete & Body & Soul (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Michigan) (1972) 120 To..biden leuns sauage [?a1300 Digby 86 sauuage].
c1330 Roland & Vernagu (Auch.) (1882) l. 92 Bifor sir charls he brouȝt Sauage bestes..Gold & siluer, & riche stones.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) Prol. 11 But a lytel I reioysed me in the sowne and songe of the fowles sauuage.
?1531 tr. Erasmus Treat. perswadynge Man Patientlye to Suffre sig. A.v By crafty handelynge the sauage beastis, yea the moste wylde of them all, are made tame.
1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 58v An Asse sauage passante.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 78 Youthfull and vnhandled colts..their sauage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze, by the sweet power of musique.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xx. 163 Now of those [Fowles of Prey] which are Predable, whereof some are Sauage, some Domesticall: the Sauage I call those that are not subiect to mans gouernment, but doe naturally shun their societie.
1697 D. Baker Poems 122 'Twixt tame and savage Beasts there shall remain No diff'rence in thy peaceful Reign.
1732 T. Lediard tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos I. iii. 138 It is the nature of all savage animals to avoid mankind.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 272 An angry and ferocious disposition, renders the dog, in its savage state, a formidable enemy to all other animals.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury xlvi, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 310 A story so absurd, As that a new-born infant forth could fare Out of his home after a savage herd.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 219 The cattle were..mostly old savage devils, all horn and hide.
1914 J. M. Barrie Admirable Crichton ii. 76 Night falls suddenly in these parts, and it is then that savage animals begin to prowl and roar.
2001 D. Carlyon Dan Rice ii. 25 The unpaved streets.., alive with rats, dogs, and the usual savage pigs.
2. † c. Of decoration: rustic, imitating natural vegetation. Obsolete. rare.
a. Of country, land, or landscape: uncultivated, wild; (hence by association with branch A. II.) rugged, forbidding, inhospitable. Also: of or belonging to such a landscape.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > [adjective] > scenic > wild
savagec1330
unbenec1400
rudec1405
scragged1519
austere?1580
stark1799
stern1812
the world > the earth > land > landscape > [adjective] > scenic > wild > horribly
savage1810
α.
β. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke v. f. lxiiii The desertnesse of the countrey lying waste and saluage, did nothyng feare theim from commyng to hym.1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Gjv It is throughout baren and saluage, so that it is not able to nourishe any beastes for lacke of pasture.1645 E. Waller Poems 73 Eurydice, for whom his num'rous moan Makes listning trees, and salvage mountains groan.1713 J. Addison in Guardian 7 July 1/2 Fountaine-bleau..is situated among Rocks and Woods, that give you a fine Variety of Salvage Prospects.1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 96 The old salvage character of the hill has disappeared.c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 5433 Þe xii Drians of þe forest sauage A strong kniȝt of heiȝe parage.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 17134 (MED) I ffyl a-noon in my passage In-to a woode ful savage.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xvii. 18 Northumbrelande..was a sauage and a wylde countrey, full of desartis and mountaignes.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. ix. 43 The moste part of the yle is hilly and sauage.
1616 T. Adams Divine Herball 2 Here be two kindes, a good and a bad soyle:..the latter a wild and sauage Forrest of Bryars and thornes.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 23 Affecting private life, or more obscure In savage Wilderness. View more context for this quotation
1736 S. Duck Poems Several Occasions 90 They quit their Ship, and gain the Shore, And for Recruits the Savage Land explore.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 25 The prospect on all sides quite savage, high barren hills..or dreary wet sands.
1810 W. Scott Let. 19–20 Sept. (1932) II. 374 The scenery is quite different from that on the mainland—dark, savage, and horrid.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 11 The view from this place had a savage magnificence.
1907 Bp. Robertson in Trans. Devon Assoc. 47 Savage and forbidding scenes have laid aside their grandeur.
1983 R. Kelly Under Words 20 Some once-elegant carving on an Italian column I came across in a savage garden.
1988 K. Lynch Adventures on Wine Route (1990) iii. 74 There is a wild, savage beauty to the landscape.
b. Of a plant or tree: wild, uncultivated. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > [adjective] > wild or not cultivated
wildc725
untameda1340
unsownc1374
unplanteda1382
savagea1500
natural1526
self-sowed1597
self-sown1608
maiden1616
voluntary1620
spontaneous1665
uncultivated1697
wilding1697
volunteer1794
uncultured1804
agrarian1851
self-raised1852
α.
β. 1599 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. i. 202 A place..which yeeldeth balme in great plenty, but saluage, wilde, and without vertue.?1655 R. Baron Mirza 181 Caucasus..is uninhabited, producing little but salvage Trees, and poysonous herbs.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 72 Thus the salvage Cherry grows. View more context for this quotationa1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 244 Letus [MS. betus] sauage, that is y-callid scariole.
1577 R. Willes & R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Hist. Trauayle W. & E. Indies f. 253 The greater part of the quadrangle [is] set with sauage trees, as Okes, Chestnuttes, Cypres.
1633 H. Hawkins Partheneia Sacra ii. 20 Behold heer..the Prouince, the White, the Sauage Rose (which growes in the Eglantines) and lastly the Golden Rose.
1655 R. Fanshawe tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad iv. lxx. 89 One of those Mountains was inhabited; Where thousand savage Trees with leavie Locks The intercourse of people hindered.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man ii. 170 As Fruits..On savage Stocks inserted, learn to bear.
1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xiv. 82 St. Foin..grows naturally Savage without Sowing or Tillage, upon the Calabrian Hills near Croto.
1753 J. Warton tr. Virgil Eclogues & Georgics I. 223 With culture civilize your savage trees, Nor let your lands lie dead in slothful ease.
1820 P. B. Shelley Ode to Liberty iv, in Prometheus Unbound 210 The vine, the corn, the olive mild, Grew savage yet, to human use unreconciled.
1883 Cent. Mag. Nov. 47/1 The lofty hedge is becrimsoned with savage roses, in whose degenerate petals still linger traces of former high cultivation.
1914 C. W. Earle & E. Case Pot-pourri mixed by Two 176 Americans call wild trees savage trees.
1921 D. H. Lawrence in Dial Nov. 592 This Sunday morning, seeing the frost among the tangled, still savage bushes of Sardinia, my soul thrilled again.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > [adjective] > specific style
Moorish1434
savage1548
damaskeen1551
grotesque1603
Mogul1617
pierced1756
baroque1765
rocaille1776
rococo1830
plateresque1845
Alhambresque1848
François Premier1850
Mudéjar1865
serio-grotesque1873
famille verte1876
barocco1877
rococoesque1885
famille rose1893
famille noire1898
Ch'ien Lung1901
Marie Antoinette1909
Mosan1910
famille jaune1923
Romanizing1936
quatre-couleur1959
penworked1965
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clviv The Jawe peces..were karued with Vinettes and trailes of sauage worke.
3. † b. Remote from society; solitary, isolated. Obsolete.In some quots. difficult to distinguish from sense A. 3a.
a. Of a person: living in a wild state; belonging to a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized. Of a tribe, society, region, etc.: consisting or composed of people regarded as primitive and uncivilized.Now usually historical or offensive: see note at sense B. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > lack of civilization > [adjective] > specifically of persons
savage?1473
uncivil1553
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > lack of civilization > [adjective]
wilda1300
bestiala1398
wilderna1400
savagine?a1439
barbaric1490
rudea1530
barbar1535
barbarous1538
pagan1550
uncivil1553
Scythical1559
raw?1573
savaged1583
incivil1586
savage1589
barbarian1591
uncivilized1607
negerous1609
mountainous1613
ruvid1632
ruvidous1632
barbarious1633
incivilizeda1645
alabandical1656
inhumanea1680
tramontane1740
semi-barbarous1798
irreclaimed1814
semi-savage1833
semiferine1854
warrigal1855
sloven1856
semi-barbaric1864
pre-civilized1876
wild and woolly1884
jungle1908
medieval1917
jungli1920
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > lack of civilization > [adjective] > relating to uncivilized people
uncivil1553
savage1589
α.
β. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 15 Antisthenes..had to his father a citezen of Athenes, but to his mother a woman of a barbarous or saluage countree.1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xiii. §7. 435 In these times Greece was very saluage, the inhabitants being often chaced from place to place, by the captaines of greater Tribes.1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding i. iii. 20 The more than Brutality of some savage and barbarous Nations.1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 271 From a Salvage Prince rendred himself a tame Follower of the Patriarch St. Gregory.?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 29 Calisto..was euyl clothid and half wilde and sauage.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xxiii. 436 The sauage man..was Merlin of Northumberlande.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. iii. 4 He brought the rude and sauage people to a more ciuill and orderly life.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 220 Like a rude and sauadge man of Inde. View more context for this quotation
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 27 Taking for their leader the Earle of Desmond and others, as Oneale, and some other of the sauage Irish.
1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 196 The Britains were for the most part an abject savage people.
1757 T. Gray Ode I ii. ii, in Odes 8 She [sc. the Muse] deigns to hear the savage Youth repeat, In loose numbers wildly sweet Their feather-cinctured Chiefs and dusky Loves.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxx. 170 The barriers, which had so long separated the savage and the civilised nations of the earth.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 109 I will take some savage woman, she shall rear my dusky race.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xvii. 73 The south..was, through its neighbourhood and intercourse with Gaul, somewhat less savage than the rest of the island.
1906 A. Machen House of Souls 7 The enemies of the cruel Star Chamber caused the savage Indian to disappear from the land.
1951 H. Arendt Burden of our Time ii. vi. 161 The honesty and simplicity of savage and uncivilized peoples were opposed to the sophistication and frivolity of culture.
1995 Guardian 27 Oct. (Friday Review section) 5/1 Since returning from Rwanda, I have heard many smug voices decrying the savage Africans and their ‘lost’ continent.
2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 Feb. 33/2 This expansionism was explained in terms similar to those used by other colonial powers: trade, security, the imperative of ‘civilizing’ savage tribes.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adjective]
onlyOE
alonec1175
solitarya1340
lone1377
ledelessc1400
fellowless?c1425
savage1535
neighbourless1550
private1599
discompanied1601
unattended1603
disaccompanied1605
lonelya1616
marrowless?1635
companionless1644
unneighboured1657
unaccompanied1709
unescorted1774
uncompanioned1822
comradeless1891
1535 R. Copland tr. Complaynt of them that be to soone Maryed sig. Av Better it were to be a man sauage Than to be take in that ylke lase.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 1085 O might I here In solitude live savage, in some glade Obscur'd. View more context for this quotation
1680 T. Otway Orphan ii. 21 I, methinks, am Salvage and forlorn, Thy Presence only 'tis, can make me blest.
c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of primitive peoples.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > [adjective]
heathenic1554
savage1559
heathnical1583
ethnical1818
ethnic1841
multi-ethnic1941
mono-ethnic1968
α.
β. 1612 W. Symonds Proc. Eng. Colonie Virginia xii. 98 in J. Smith Map of Virginia The rest he seated gallantlie at Powhatan, in their Salvage fort they built.1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. viii. §5. 140 There is no man so impious, as to beleeue that Noah..could..set vp or deuise any Heathen saluage, or idolatrous adoration.1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 427 Like Hercules himself, his Son appears, In Salvage Pomp a Lyon's Hide he wears.1559 W. Bavand tr. J. Ferrarius Common Weale iv. ii. f. 59v The Poetes were wonte to call menne into townes from their wilde and sauage life.
?1590–1 J. Burel Discription Queens Entry Edinb. in Poems sig. L4v Hir Grace past to ane vther pairt: Quhair sche, beheld sum..A coutert, in ane sauadge sort.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. vii. §3. 102 The first people which after the generall floud inhabited Italie, were the Camesenes;..which people liued altogether a sauage life.
1681 Bp. S. Parker Demonstr. Divine Authority i. 77 The farther off they keep from this savage State, the nearer do they approach to the Contentment and Tranquility of their Lives.
1727 Missionalia 66 The Humanizing of them [sc. American Indians], and Reducing them from a Savage, to a Civil Way of Life.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall V. liii. 494 The Grecian princess was torn from the palace of her fathers, and condemned to a savage reign and an hopeless exile on the banks of the Borysthenes.
1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 30 Nov. 231 The civilized man gives up those stimulants of hope and fear which constitute the chief charm of the savage life.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. iv. 176 This is the purely savage state; and it is the state in which military glory is most esteemed, and military men most respected.
1899 R. C. Temple Univ. Gram. 24 The ‘savage’ nature of the languages comes out even more clearly if we apply the theory in another way.
1934 G. Greene It's a Battlefield i. 1 Young men had certain savage qualities; they moved quickly; they sometimes carried poisoned weapons.
1971 N. Sherry Conrad's Western World xi. 100 His intimate knowledge of the savage customs.
1990 Crafts Sept. 22/1 Images of African Art..challenges the established view of the relationship between ‘savage’ art and Modernism.
II. In extended use with reference to behaviour, disposition, or character.† 4.
a. Indomitable, intrepid, valiant. Obsolete.In quot. c1330 as an epithet with a proper name.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > bravery or boldness > stout-heartedness > [adjective]
savagec1330
well-heartedc1485
stout-hearted1552
steel-hearted1571
intrepid1697
skookum1847
aggro1985
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 8270 Þe v was Dedinet þe saueage.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 4022 But sone sauage men þat seten in þe halle henten hastili in honde what þei haue miȝt,..to wende him [sc. the werwolf] after wiȝtli to quelle.
a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 485 An hardy knyght, stout and savage, Hent a schafft with gret rage.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 813 With v thowsand welle garnest and sawage.
b. Reckless, ungovernable. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adjective] > rash or reckless > specifically of actions, feelings, etc.
recklessOE
racklec1405
savagec1425
rash1533
hot-brained1556
rashful1567
blindfold1593
lavish1600
wretchless1607
blind1615
hand over head1682
wild goose1770
plunging1798
wild cat1890
(like a) bull at a (five-barred) gate1896
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 4759 I praye the, my moder dere..That thow be wyse and not sauage; Ȝif the not to outrage!
a1500 Bernardus de Cura (1870) l. 300 A mane..of wyne þat has vsage Ande habundance and syne is nocht saffage Th[r]ow mychtiness and confort of þe wyne At temporance bydis and sobyr syne.
5.
a. Of a person, an action, etc.: cruel, brutal, violent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [adjective]
wrothc893
retheeOE
hateleOE
grim971
hardOE
cruel1297
despitousc1374
savagea1393
fadea1400
hetera1400
keen?c1425
vengeablec1430
despiteful1488
unmanfula1500
despiteous?1510
cruent1524
felonish1530
Herodian1581
felly1583
savaged1583
Neronian1598
savagious1605
Dionysian1608
black-blooded1771
atrocious1772
Neroic1851
Neronic1864
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [adjective] > rough
rudea1375
savagea1393
rougha1398
roid?c1425
brutisha1513
brash1868
roughneck1906
to treat 'em rough1962
α.
β. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 1699 (MED) If ye wiste what I am And out of what lignage I cam, Ye wolde noght be so salvage.1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Mark v. f. xxxviv Yet is there none so fierse and saluage crueltie that we ought to despaire of.1637 W. Saltonstall tr. Eusebius Life Constantine 137 Hee hath changed all mansutude and graciousnesse with salvage fury and cruelty.1694 J. Tillotson Serm. Several Occasions IV. xii. 432 With what a salvage and murderous disposition they will flie at one another's Reputation and tear it in pieces.1746 W. Collins Odes 21 I see recoil his sable steeds, That bore Him swift to Salvage Deeds.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iii. v. l. 95 Orestes cachit in furyus rage For cryme of his moderis slauchtir and savage In lufe hait byrnyng for his spows byreft..Set on this Pirrus.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 5 Of a cruell, wicked, and sauage pleasure.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 253 [Murderer.] Relent, tis cowardly and womanish. Cla. Not to relent, is beastly, sauage, diuelish. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. ii. 92 What shall I say to thee Lord Scroope, thou cruell, Ingratefull, sauage, and inhumane Creature? View more context for this quotation
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus xxii. 296 All savage punishment heretofore used, either have been by Act of Parliament repealed, or obsoleted by disuse.
1749 T. Smollett Regicide i. i. 3 A Wretch Of Soul more savage breathes not vital Air.
1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless IV. vii. 63 His savage treatment of her beloved squirrel.
1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Family IV. 190 It would be downright savage to leave Lady Miramont now.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) ix. 77 He had a savage pleasure in making the poor wretches [sc. his creditors] wait.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxiv. 419 The troops were savage, and killed every man that they overtook.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxxvii. 401 His drunkenness was savage and morose.
1962 O. Manning Spoilt City iv. xxii. 243 The blows were given with savage determination.
1993 W. A. McDougall Let Sea make Noise 27 The crown tried to halt their savage treatment of Indian laborers.
b. colloquial. In predicative use. Of a person: enraged, angry, furious. Also: using angry language. Cf. to cut up savage at cut v. Phrasal verbs. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > furious anger > [adjective] > furiously angry
grim971
aweddeOE
woodlyc1000
anburstc1275
woodc1275
aburstc1300
eagerc1325
brotheful1330
brothely1330
furiousc1374
wroth as (the) wind1377
throc1380
fella1382
wrothlya1400
grindelc1400
raginga1425
furibund1490
bremit1535
outraging1567
fulminant?1578
wood-like1578
horn-mad1579
snuff1582
woodful1582
maddeda1586
rageful1585
furibundal1593
gary1609
fierce1611
wild1653
infuriate1667
hopping mad1675
maddened1735
sulphureous1751
savage1789
infuriated1796
bouncing mad1834
frenzy1859
furyinga1861
ropeable1870
furied1878
fulminous1886
livid1888
fit to be tied1894
hopping1894
fighting mad1896
tamping mad1946
up the wall1951
ravers1967
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > [adjective] > of speech: angry > angry in speech
savage1859
1789 Loiterer 21 Feb. 15 Saw he was going to be savage, so kicked him down stairs to prevent his being impertinent.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. I. 51 Don't let Emmy know that we have told you, else she'll be savage with us.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing v. 35 If he [sc. a sick person] can speak without being savage..he is exercising self-control.
1875 W. S. Hayward Love against World 3 Come, Jasper, you need not look so savage.
1913 ‘G. A. Birmingham’ Gen. John Regan ix. 135 ‘Devil such a temper I ever saw any woman in, and I've seen some in my day.’ ‘I know she'd be a bit savage. I hoped you wouldn't have met her.’
1969 A. Dixon in P. A. Smith Folklore Austral. Railwaymen 106 Driver Dunning was very touchy at any time but what with him being way out on the track on a Saturday and him being a racing man he was savage.
6.
a. Of a natural force, appetite, disease, etc.: fierce, harsh; uncontrolled, destructive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective]
retheeOE
hotOE
strongOE
woodlyc1000
un-i-rideOE
stoura1122
brathc1175
unridec1175
unrudec1225
starklyc1275
toughc1275
wood1297
ragec1330
unrekena1350
biga1375
furialc1386
outrageousc1390
savagea1393
violenta1393
bremelya1400
snarta1400
wrothlya1400
fightingc1400
runishc1400
dour?a1425
derfc1440
churlousa1450
roida1450
fervent1465
churlish1477
orgulous1483
felona1500
brathfula1522
brathlya1525
fanatic1533
furious1535
boisterous1544
blusterous1548
ungentle1551
sore1563
full-mouthed1594
savage wild1595
Herculean1602
shrill1608
robustious1612
efferous1614
thundering1618
churly1620
ferocient1655
turbulent1656
efferate1684
knock-me-down1760
haggard-wild1786
ensanguined1806
rammish1807
fulminatory1820
riproarious1830
natural1832
survigrous1835
sabre-toothed1849
cataclysmal1861
thunderous1874
fierce1912
cataractal1926
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > specifically of natural agencies
starkeOE
steer13..
savagea1393
wightc1400
violentc1425
rageousc1450
bolda1522
masterfula1522
shouldering1747
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 4112 For as the wilde wode rage Of wyndes makth the See salvage, And that was calm bringth into wawe.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 2262 Bot vertu set in the corage, Ther mai no world be so salvage, Which mihte it take and don aweie, Til whanne that the bodi deie.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 4084 Darrie hete..Remuen his tentes..And setten hem bisides Estrage, A colde water and a sauage.
a1605 (c1422) T. Hoccleve Complaint (Durh.) l. 86 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 98 All-thowghe from hym his siknesse savage with-drawne and passyd..for a tyme be, Resorte it wole.
1637 J. Milton Comus 13 Within the direfull graspe Of Savage hunger, or of Savage heat?
1796 F. Burney Camilla II. iii. xiii. 259 What savage heat! I wish the weather had a little feeling!
1818 P. B. Shelley tr. Homer To Castor & Pollux 9 When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea Are raging.
1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 20 So that the savage winds hung mute around.
1891 J. C. Atkinson Forty Years Moorland Parish 362 It would have been alike impossible to see or read [the burial service] in such a fierce, savage stour.
1917 Everybody's Mag. Aug. 164/2 He was convalescent now, after the savage illness that had held him bound through most of the winter.
1972 Observer 23 Apr. (Colour Suppl.) 35/4 Fiennes and Stanley Cribbett skeeter through the savage waters of the Bridge River rapids.
1992 Harrowsmith Oct. 74/1 The rare but savage northwesterlies roaring out of the glaciered mountains.
2013 L. Stott Sc. Hist. in Verse 369 Soutar..contracted a savage illness in 1930 that meant he became bedridden for the remaining 13 years of his life.
b. Of an animal, its behaviour, etc.: ferocious, fierce, vicious. Cf. sense A. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by nature > [adjective] > wild or vicious
wildc725
wrothOE
keenOE
ramagec1300
fell?c1335
furiousc1374
fierce1377
ramageousa1398
eagerc1405
savage1447
naughtyc1460
criminal1477
ill1480
shrewd1509
mankind1519
roidc1540
mad1565
horn-mad1579
fierceful1607
man-keen1607
indomite1617
fellish1638
ferocious1646
ferousa1652
ferinea1676
kwaai1827
skelm1827
α.
β. 1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes sig. h.jv Were there euer beastes so saluage, or cruel, to deuour the dam?1632 R. Sanderson 12 Serm. 148 Wherein Iob alludeth to ravenous and salvadge beasts.1696 N. Tate & N. Brady New Version Psalms of David vii. 2 Lest, like a salvage Lion, he My helpless Soul devour.1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) l. 8861 (MED) Tweyn hors of hys wex ful sauage And gunne to nehyn in here fers rage.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3870 Grekys wenyng that were ȝong of age, That this Tygre hadde be sauage, And Cruelly besettyng al the place Round aboute.
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. Eiiv/1 He wan at length And slew gerione with thre bodys in one with myghty corrage A dauntid the rage Of a lyon sauage.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 5 The wild sauage sowe of Crommyon, otherwise surnamed Phæa.
1611 Bible (King James) Wisd. xvii. 19 A roaring voice of most sauage wilde beasts. View more context for this quotation
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xxvii Euen the Sauagest Beasts are made quiet and docible, with want of food, and rest.
1707 J. Addison Rosamond i. iv. 11 What savage Tiger would not pity A Damsel so distress'd and pretty!
1790 R. Carmichael Poems 71 You, all foaming like a savage bear, Attempt with blust'ring cries to move the fair.
1820 W. Scott Let. 25 Jan. (1934) VI. 127 For all the kind [of dogs] are savage at night.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 17 The Killer Whales are known the world over by their destructive and savage habits.
1922 W. T. Hornaday Minds & Manners Wild Animals ix. 91 If we attempted to touch the infant, the mother instantly became savage and dangerous.
1952 Life 21 July 104/2 A chorus of grunts and savage growls went up from the pride.
1990 Evening Standard 6 Mar. 15/1 Dog breeders are mating what the RSPCA describe as the world's most savage dog.
7.
a. Of movement, noise, demeanour, etc.: wild, uncontrolled, unrestrained; rough, crude.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > violent emotion > [adjective] > affected by violent emotion
woodc900
reighOE
mada1350
furiousc1374
raginga1425
savagea1450
rageous1486
frenetic?c1550
frantic1561
frenetical1588
impotent1596
transported1600
violent1601
turbulent1609
dementing1729
enfrenzied1823
wild1868
haywire1934
wigged-out1977
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > completely unchecked
unbridledc1374
untempered1377
bridleless?1406
unrepressed?a1425
untemperatea1425
savagea1450
unchecked1469
undaunted1513
uncontrolleda1535
reinless1566
unrestrained1578
ineffrenate1581
unbitteda1586
check-free1598
uncurbed1600
checkless1604
unbounded1608
uncontained?1611
dis'chained1615
ungoverneda1616
unstanched1621
unsneaped1647
incontrolled1650
controlless1657
irregulated1664
curbless1813
do-as-you-please1845
disenchaineda1849
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective] > making harsh or discordant sound
hoarsec1369
ganglinga1398
roughlyc1400
rauk?a1425
rustyc1430
hask?1440
savagea1450
raw1474
hoar?a1505
harsh1530
untunable1545
jarring1552
jarry1582
barking1589
absonant1600
wrangling1608
raucous1615
asper1626
streperous1637
scrannel1638
caterwaulinga1652
unmelodious1665
jangling1667
latrant1702
untuneful1709
raucid1730
unharmonious1742
unmelodized1771
unmelodic1823
raucal1826
rauque1845
raspish1847
serratic1859
jangled1874
jangly1891
amelodic1937
a1450 (?c1430) J. Lydgate Daunce Machabree (Huntington) (1931) l. 114 (MED) I haue not lerned here-a-forne to daunce No daunce in sothe of fotynge so sauage.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 61 But you are more intemperate in your blood, Than Venus, or those pampred animalls, That rage in sauage sensualitie. View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 125 The sauage strangenesse he puts on. View more context for this quotation
1655 F. G. tr. ‘G. de Scudéry’ Artamenes IV. vii. iii. 189 Her reputation is high, though her vertue be neither salvage nor austere; but on the contrary sweet and sociable.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 36 The Race Of that wilde Rout that tore the Thracian Bard In Rhodope,..till the savage clamor dround Both Harp and Voice. View more context for this quotation
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 233 Oh to the club, the scene of savage joys, The school of coarse good fellowship and noise.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 325 Delights which who would leave..For all the savage din of the swift pack, And clamours of the field?
a1822 P. B. Shelley Triumph of Life in Posthumous Poems (1824) 79 The wild dance maddens in the van, and those Who lead it..without repose Mix with each other in tempestuous measure To savage music, wilder as it grows.
1888 Harper's Mag. Jan. 226/2 ‘Gord! Gord! honey,’ she said, tossing her blue checked apron up and down with wild, savage gestures of dismay and grief.
1946 A. Koestler Thieves in Night viii. 61 [They] had formed the first ring of the horra, the stamping and swaying round-dance, a savage ring-polka.
1989 Dance Nov. 58/2 A savage scale and energy lies at the core of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
2007 Uncut Feb. 80/1 Tiresome bleepery..savage breakbeats..and sci-fi cheese.
b. Of colour: harsh, crude, bright.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > garish
violenta1522
garisha1568
savage1706
raw1763
criard1840
tranchant1841
flagrant1858
blaring1866
criant1876
screamy1882
screaming1883
raucous1919
shrieking1958
shrill1973
1706 J. Savage tr. R. de Piles Art of Painting 186 He tam'd the fierceness of his Colours, which were too Salvage.
1859 Hist. Mag. (U.S.) Feb. 86/1 We have Little Eyes, Canonchet, Totoson, Tuspaquin, cut on wood, and painted, very appropriately, in most savage colors—fierce looking fellows.
1897 J. Ward Hist. Ornament II. vii. 354 The work of the ninth century was characterized by exceedingly bad drawing and savage colouring.
1933 B. Willoughby Alaskans All 55 An Avernian Caldron, lined with volcanic hues, savage reds, and orange and pink, streaked with black and snow.
2011 R. King Defiant Spirits ii. iii. 192 Those who regarded landscapes as a pictorial balm for weary eyes and shattered nerves were shocked by the savage colours and tentacular lines of the Fauves.
8. Of a judgement, criticism, imposition, etc.: extremely or excessively severe in intent or effect; drastic, harsh.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [adjective] > specifically of actions or utterances
stern?c1225
sore1526
severe1561
savage1821
acidic1936
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais Pref. 4 The savage criticism on his [sc. Keats'] Endymion, which appeared in the Quarterly Review, produced the most violent effect on his susceptible mind.
1844 Southern Literary Messenger 10 620 The savage criticism of Gifford, and the coarse personalities of Wilson were poured on him.
a1854 J. Wilson Convict in Poet. Wks. (1858) 194 Prisoner: They will drive me past my own door to the scaffold? Friend: Such is the savage sentence.
1940 S. J. Perelman Let. 12 May in Sel. Lett. (1987) 30 His review of Strictly From Hunger was so savage.
1976 Economist 24 July 73/1 The savage cuts in holiday travel and emigration allowances imposed in last week's Rhodesian budget.
1984 N.Y. Times 22 July ii. 19/2 If you exceed the..speed limit on the East German autobahn system..you can expect a savage fine.
2008 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 1 May 35/3 Gessen's humor is persistently Seinfeldian, avoiding the excesses of savage comedy or satire.
B. n.1† 2. Savageness, ferocity. Obsolete.Only recorded in Skelton, in collocation with furious.
1. † a. A wild or untamed animal. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by nature > [noun] > wild animal
wild deerc825
wildc1275
Satanasc1300
wild beastc1325
unbeasta1400
savage?a1425
feral1639
man-keen1652
yelper1823
wildling1841
tiger1859
rogue1872
ferine1895
wilding1897
?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1996) I. l. 1710 Qwat mane so dose slike vttrage, Enters to sclo þe kynges salvagh,..Lyffe sall he lose, lyme, or be schent.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Fourth Bk. Aeneas (1554) iv. sig. B.iiv From the rockes toppe then [sic] dryuen sauage rose.
?1609 G. Chapman tr. Homer Twelue Bks. Iliads v. 70 And made him able with his Dart, infalliblie to reach All sorts of subtlest sauages, which many a woddie hill Bred for him.
1682 T. Southerne Loyal Brother iv. i. 42 What unfrequented Coast am I thrown on, Naked, and helpless, to be made a prey To the next coming salvage of the field?
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 11. ⁋12 The suspicion and solicitude of a man that plays with a tame tiger, always under a necessity of watching the moment in which the capricious savage shall begin to growl.
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives I. 9 Crommyon was infested by a wild sow named Phæa... This savage he [sc. Theseus]..killed.
1831 T. B. Macaulay Hampden in Ess. ⁋14 The man who, in a Spanish bull-fight, goads the torpid savage to fury, by shaking a red rag in the air.
1882 St. Nicholas Feb. 318/2 Nor do mere ‘food and attendance’ include all the large items of a quadruped savage's board bill.
b. A vicious horse. Cf. note at savage v. 3b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > temperament > [noun] > vicious or bad-tempered
jadec1386
miller1825
savage1859
1859 Illustr. London News 29 Jan. 17/3 Mr. Rarey has given four ‘demonstrations’.., and handled nine horses, one of them a very wicked pieball mare, and the grey savage par excellence of the army.
1869 ‘W. Bradwood’ The O.V.H. vi His experience of similar animals led him to house a donkey in the same box with Warrener, with whom the savage soon fraternised, and displayed corresponding improvement in his temper.
1888 W. Day Horse 419 We also have in Paradox a modern savage, like his grey prototype.
1937 C. E. Perkins Pinto Horse vi. 35 Among the older gelding was a flea-bitten, much branded grey savage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [noun]
rethenesseOE
crueltyc1230
cruelnessa1400
savagenessa1400
cruelc1440
crudelity1483
savagec1487
savagerya1616
reluctationa1625
fellness1678
heartlessness1891
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iii. 180 He had..like a myghty strong lion in his furious savage slayen..his mortall ennemyes.
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 258 There is a wilde bull that passeth and excedeth this beste in furious savaige.
3.
a. A person living in a wild state; a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized. Cf. noble savage n.Now usually avoided as offensive, except in historical reference to the language or attitudes of the past.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > lack of civilization > [noun] > uncivilized person
wild mana1400
woodwose?a1400
savaginec1450
woodward1488
savagea1544
woodman1601
barbarian1604
woodist1613
wilding1621
brutigenist1631
catamountaina1640
Caliban1678
semi-barbarian1692
Hottentot1710
semi-savage1807
pagan1879
α.
β. a1544 R. Barlow tr. M. Fernández de Enciso Brief Summe Geogr. (1932) 50 The people [sc. the Irish]..liveth by stelyng and robbyng as sylvages which lieth abrode in forests and marrys groundes in litle towres.1612 J. Smith Map of Virginia ii. i. 3 Wee traded with the Salvages at Dominica.a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. ii. 58 Doe you put trickes vpon's with Saluages, and Men of Inde? View more context for this quotation1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. ii. 156 Seeing we are civilized English men, let us not be naked Salvages in our talk.1698 E. Ward Trip to Jamaica (ed. 3) 10 The next Morning the Salvages Man'd out a Fleet of their Deal Skimming-dishes.1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 40 Among Strangers and Salvages.1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya ii. 11 Ye Sauages heard ye shot of one of our caliuers.
1585 R. Lane Let. 12 Aug. in Trans. & Coll. Amer. Antiquarian Soc. (1860) 4 10 I leave to certyfye your honor of what lyekelyhuddes founde, or what the savvages reporte of better matters.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 200 Vouchsafe to shew the sunshine of your face, That we (like sauages) may worship it. View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 292 Some scattering Arabs, sold vs Water... Two of which Sauages our Captayne hyred, to guide vs.
1658 R. Flecknoe Enigmaticall Characters 67 Would tame fierce Lions, and civilize barbarousest Savages.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 242 Upon this my Savage..made a Motion to me to lend him my Sword.
1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music iii. 29 The Iroquois, Hurons, and some less considerable Tribes, are free and independent Savages.
1804 Sydney Gaz. 17 June 2 At length came up with forty or fifty of the hostile savages, who had a quantity of property of which they had stripped the settlers.
1868 Galaxy Mar. 370 The rude agricultural implements of an African savage.
1907 G. Tyrrell Oil & Wine 24 To the savage every stranger is therefore an enemy.
1975 J. Clavell Shōgun (1980) xix. 319 You can't treat Japan like an Inca protectorate peopled with jungle savages who have neither history not culture.
1992 Billboard 28 Nov. 85/2 [He] reportedly referred to new Colorado senator Ben Night Horse Campbell as an ‘injun’ and called Native Americans ‘savages’.
2001 B. Stanley Christian Missions & Enlightenment viii. 179 No preparatory process of civilization was necessary before ‘savages’ could respond to the gospel.
b. A cruel or brutal person; (also) a person who is coarse, rough, or uncouth.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > savage person > [noun]
wolfa900
liona1225
beastc1225
wild manc1290
tiger?a1513
Turk1536
club-fist1575
scourgemutton1581
wolver1593
vulture1605
savage1609
inhuman1653
brutal1655
Tartar1669
hyena1671
dragoon1712
Huna1744
panther1822
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > [noun] > person
wolfa900
cruelc1420
Turk1536
scourgemutton1581
savage1609
hell-kitea1616
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > cultural ignorance > [noun] > uncultured person
runt1602
home-bred1609
pork1645
Huna1744
savage1762
heathen1817
Philistine1825
stringy-bark1833
roughneck1834
yahoo1861
yapc1894
lowbrow1901
meatball1937
primitive1967
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. iii. 51 Hect. Fie sauage, fie. Troy. Hector then 'tis warres. View more context for this quotation
1696 T. Comber Disc. Offices 114 But who would imagine, that our Christned Albion should breed such Salvages?
1706 Ld. Godolphin Let. 22 Oct. in H. L. Snyder Marlborough–Godolphin Corr. (1975) II. 720 Some measures ought to be conceived for putting a stop to these savages.
1762 G. Colman Musical Lady ii. i. 20 Sophy. Oh—the people here are all downright Goths. Mask. Absolute savages—an English catch, a Scotch jigg, and an Irish howl are all their ideas of harmony.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 422 Witness the patient ox,..Driv'n to the slaughter..while the savage at his heels Laughs at the frantic suff'rer's fury.
1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. i. iii. 15 However,..the young savages at Burnsley Vicarage had caught a Tartar.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 8/1 Schoolboys..are not such savages as in the old days.
1939 C. Seiler Our Girls i. 7 He's so loud and rough, a perfect little savage.
1967 Boston Sunday Herald 30 Apr. 18/1 Animals kill only in self-defense or for food... The ‘savages’ in our cities do it for ‘kicks’.
2008 J. P. Hunt Goodbye Sister Disco xxxi. 234 I can beg for my life, beg for it from savages who shot bullets into poor Tom like he was a large bag of cooking rice.
4. † c. At the church of St Dunstan in the West, London: either of two figures depicted wearing loincloths and bearing clubs which strike the bells of the clock. Obsolete.Since the 19th cent. the figures have been identified with the giants Gog and Magog.
a. In outdoor shows, pageants, masques, etc.: a person dressed in greenery, representing a wild man of the woods; = savage man n. 1. Cf. green man n. 1a. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun]
savage?1578
?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 20 This Sauage for the more submission brake his tree a sunder.
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote xx. 129 Before them came a woodden Castle, which was shot at by two Sauages clad in Iuie and Canuas, died in greene, so to the life, that they had well-nigh frighted Sancho.
1843 Penny Mag. 18 Nov. 445/1 Two ‘woodmen’, or savages, carried clubs and hurled squibs to clear the way for the procession.
1862 G. J. Whyte-Melville Queen's Maries I. xiv. 193 The masque will only be six against six as usual,..six Savages and six Amazons.
1905 E. E. Stoll John Webster iii. 150 Country-men, milk-maids, savages, or the like.
2004 G. J. Buelow Hist. Baroque Music xi. 356 Following dances for fairies and anti-masque savages (or ‘green men’, according to the score for the first production), the masque takes a sudden turn to low comedy.
b. Heraldry. A figure of a savage or wild man, typically represented as a naked man wreathed with greenery and depicted as a supporter of a coat of arms; = savage man n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of human or divine beings > [noun] > savage
woodwose1355
woodward1488
savage mana1656
savage1673
woodman1780
1673 in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) III. 248 For his crest a burning hill supported be two savadges or naked men, proper.
1680 G. Mackenzie Observ. Laws & Customs of Nations viii. 53 The Royal Arms of Scotland: supported on the..sinister, by a Savage or Wild-man proper.
1785 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 565/1 Two savages, wreathed about the head and middle with laurel, holding branches of trees in their hands, all proper.
1793 Z. Cozens Tour through Isle of Thanet iii. 264 Supporters, dexter, a horse rampant; sinister, a savage, holding in his right hand a spear, or dart point downwards.
1824 Debrett's Baronetage Eng. (ed. 5) II. 1028 A savage's head, affrontée, proper, between two branches of laurel.
1887 E. Farrer Church Heraldry Norfolk I. 200 Beneath, on a small shield supported by two savages, Argent, a bordure gules.
1920 H. Lee Hist. Clan Donald ix. 137 Dexter, a savage wreathed about the temples and loins with ivy.
2006 B. A. McAndrew Scotland's Hist. Heraldry vii. 133 Two hairy savages are the supporters.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of
nut1428
peise1428
plumbc1450
Jack1498
clockwork1516
larum1542
Jack of the clockhouse1563
watch-wheel1568
work1570
plummeta1578
Jack of the clock1581
snail-cam1591
snail-work1591
pointer1596
quarter jack1604
mainspring1605
winder1606
notch-wheel1611
fusee1622
count-wheel1647
jack-wheel1647
frame1658
arbor1659
balance1660
fuse1674
hour-figure1675
stop1675
pallet1676
regulator1676
cock1678
movement1678
detent1688
savage1690
clock1696
pinwheel1696
starred wheel1696
swing-wheel1696
warning-wheel1696
watch1696
watch-part1696
hoop-wheel1704
hour-wheel1704
snail1714
step-wheel1714
tide-work1739
train1751
crutch1753
cannon pinion1764
rising board1769
remontoire1774
escapement1779
clock jack1784
locking plate1786
scapement1789
motion work1795
anchor escapement1798
scape1798
star-wheel1798
recoil escapement1800
recoiling pallet1801
recoiling scapement1801
cannon1802
hammer-tail1805
recoiling escapement1805
bottle jack1810
renovating spring1812
quarter-boy1815
pin tooth1817
solar wheel1819
impulse-teeth1825
pendulum wheel1825
pallet arbor1826
rewinder1826
rack hook1829
snail-wheel1831
quarter bell1832
tow1834
star pulley1836
watch train1838
clock train1843
raising-piece1843
wheelwork1843
gravity escapement1850
jumper1850
vertical escapement1850
time train1853
pin pallet1860
spade1862
dead well1867
stop-work1869
ringer1873
strike-or-silent1875
warning-piece1875
guard-pin1879
pendulum cock1881
warning-lever1881
beat-pin1883
fusee-piece1884
fusee-snail1884
shutter1884
tourbillion1884
tumbler1884
virgule1884
foliot1899
grasshopper1899
grasshopper escapement1899
trunk1899
pin lever1908
clock spring1933
1690 T. D'Urfey Collin's Walk ii. 47 Two Savages arm'd with Battoons, On Bells, make here alternate Sounds.
1720 J. Strype Stow's Surv. of London (rev. ed.) I. iii. xii. 276/2 On the side of the Church, in a handsome Frame of Architecture, are placed, in a standing Posture, two Savages, or Hercules, with Clubs erect; which quarterly strike on two Bells hanging there.
1767 W. Kenrick Widow'd Wife iii. i. 38 Sure the grim savages at St. Dunstan's still stand centinel, to strike the hours on the clock!
1803 J. P. Malcolm Londinium Redivivum III. 461 Their clock and savages, whose fascinating movements attract twenty pair of eyes every quarter of an hour.
1865 Law Times 9 Sept. 541/3 We have stood near the Temple gateway to see the old sooty bronze savages lift their clubs against the bell of St. Dunstan.
Compounds
a. Complementary, parasynthetic, etc.
savage-hearted adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [adjective] > fierce of mind or spirit
tiger-hearted1597
tiger-passioned1597
savage-hearted1639
1639 W. Lower Phaenix in her Flames iv. sig. H2v Vnkinde Amandus, More salvage hearted then the boy Adonis.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xxvii. 223 O thou savage-hearted monster! What work hast thou made in one guilty hour, for a whole age of repentance!
1819 A. Grant Let. 23 Jan. in Mem. & Corr. (1844) II. 223 His savage-hearted prototype.
1921 Rep. 44th Ann. Meeting Amer. Bar Assoc. 285 14,000 savage-hearted men and women who have taken the lives of their fellows.
2010 S. Fletcher Corrag iii. ii. 159 Their chief is savage-hearted, even to Highlanders.
savage looking adj.
ΚΠ
1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia Minor lxxxii. 273 The savage-looking shepherds called off and chid their dogs.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xliv. 398 He..glared at him with savage-looking eyes.
1954 F. C. Lane All about Insect World 24 Perhaps the most savage looking [moth] is the hickory horned devil.
1998 A. Thorpe Pieces of Light (1999) i. 3 They were rather savage looking, with big white teeth and red gums.
savage spoken adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1845 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. May 462/2 We meet occasionally with some desperately savage spoken fellows, who are, at the bottom, the very Sydneys of courtesy and kindness.
1894 Outing 24 230/1 A savage-spoken old Scotch woman.
1929 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 542/1 A carelessly dressed, savage spoken and dynamic rebel.
b. Appositive.† savage-fierce adj. Obsolete† savage wild adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > fierceness > [adjective]
grimlyc893
wrothc893
reighOE
grima1000
grillc1175
witherc1175
grimfula1240
sturdy1297
wild1297
fiercea1300
man-keenc1300
stoutc1300
cruelc1330
fell?c1335
wicked1375
felonousc1386
felona1400
cursedc1400
runishc1400
keen?c1425
roid?c1425
wolvishc1430
ranishc1450
malicious1485
mankind1519
mannish1530
lionish1549
truculent?c1550
lion-like1556
tigerish?1573
tiger-like1587
truculental1593
Amazonian1595
tigerous1597
feral1604
fierceful1607
efferous1614
lionly1631
tigerly1633
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
blusterous1663
wolfish1674
boarisha1718
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
wolfy1828
savagerous1832
hawkish1841
tigery1859
attern1868
Hunnish1915
1770 E. Lechmere Poems & Transl. 18 Beasts e'en as savage fierce as those Which Daunia's thick-grown woods disclose.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 487 Vicious in act, in temper savage-fierce.
1839 E. S. Wortley Visionary iii. ii. 206 'Twas he that headed and controulled The Jannizzaries' haughty bands of old, Controul most doubtful,—savage-fierce were they.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective]
retheeOE
hotOE
strongOE
woodlyc1000
un-i-rideOE
stoura1122
brathc1175
unridec1175
unrudec1225
starklyc1275
toughc1275
wood1297
ragec1330
unrekena1350
biga1375
furialc1386
outrageousc1390
savagea1393
violenta1393
bremelya1400
snarta1400
wrothlya1400
fightingc1400
runishc1400
dour?a1425
derfc1440
churlousa1450
roida1450
fervent1465
churlish1477
orgulous1483
felona1500
brathfula1522
brathlya1525
fanatic1533
furious1535
boisterous1544
blusterous1548
ungentle1551
sore1563
full-mouthed1594
savage wild1595
Herculean1602
shrill1608
robustious1612
efferous1614
thundering1618
churly1620
ferocient1655
turbulent1656
efferate1684
knock-me-down1760
haggard-wild1786
ensanguined1806
rammish1807
fulminatory1820
riproarious1830
natural1832
survigrous1835
sabre-toothed1849
cataclysmal1861
thunderous1874
fierce1912
cataractal1926
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [adjective]
grimlyc893
retheeOE
grim971
bitterOE
bremec1175
grillc1175
grimfula1240
cruel1297
sturdy1297
fiercea1300
fellc1300
boistousa1387
felonousc1386
savagea1393
bestiala1398
bremelya1400
felona1400
hetera1400
cursedc1400
wicked14..
vengeablec1430
wolvishc1430
unnatural?1473
inhuman1481
brutisha1513
cruent1524
felonish1530
mannish1530
abominate1531
lionish1549
boarish?1550
truculent?c1550
unhumanc1550
lion-like1556
beastly1558
orped1567
raw?1573
tigerish?1573
unmanlike1579
boisterous1581
savaged1583
tiger-like1587
yond1590
truculental1593
savage wild1595
tigerous1597
inhumane1598
Neronian1598
immane1599
Phalarical1602
ungentle1603
feral1604
savagious1605
fierceful1607
Dionysian1608
wolvy1611
Hunnish1625
lionly1631
tigerly1633
savage-hearted1639
brutal1641
feroce1641
ferocious1646
asperous1650
ferousa1652
wolfish1674
tiger1763
savage-fierce1770
Tartar1809
Tartarly1821
Neroic1851
tigery1859
Neronic1864
unmannish1867
inhumanitarian1947
1595 E. Spenser Amoretti xx, in Amoretti & Epithalamion sig. B3v She more cruell and more saluage wylde, then either Lyon or the Lyonesse: shames not to be with guiltlesse bloud defylde.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. iii. 37 The time and my intents are sauage wilde [1597 sauage, wilde] . View more context for this quotation
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
savagev.
/ˈsavɪdʒ/, U.S. /ˈsævɪdʒ/ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [verb (intransitive)]
rage?c1550
savage1563
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > be cruel [verb (intransitive)]
savage1563
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Buckingham sig. Xiii My hart agryesd that such a wretche should raygne, Whose bluddy brest so salvaged out of kynde, That Phalaris had never so bluddy a minde.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. xix. 384 Though the blindnesse of some ferities have savaged on the dead, and beene so injurious unto wormes, as to disenterre the bodies of the deceased; yet had they therein no designe upon the soule. View more context for this quotation
2. transitive. To make savage, barbarous, or fierce. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [verb (transitive)]
savage1611
unmanner1621
unhuman1648
unhumanize1752
savagize1794
inhumanize1871
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > savagery > [verb (transitive)] > treat
savage1611
brutalize1879
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > treat cruelly [verb (transitive)] > render cruel
savage1611
unhuman1648
encruelize1654
unhumanize1752
inhumanize1871
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. viii. 492/1 Dispositions not despicable, if they had not beene sauaged with a too carelesse rudenesse.
1727 J. Thomson Summer 59 Friends, And Relatives,..Savag'd by Woe, forget the social Tye, The blest Engagement of the yearning Heart.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xxii. 195 I was so savaged by my wrongs, that I delighted in the recital of this adventure.
1828 R. Southey Epist. in Anniversary 13 Its bloodhounds savaged by a cross of wolf.
1899 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 882 They are extremely good-natured and mild-tempered dogs, unless carefully ‘savaged’ by their masters.
1910 F. H. O'Donnell Hist. Irish Parl. Party II. xxiv. 277 Hardened and savaged by the loathsome and degrading tortures of the convict hell.
3.
a. transitive. To attack verbally; spec. to subject to severe or brutal criticism.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > attack with hostile words or measures
fangc1320
hurtlec1374
impugnc1384
weighc1386
to fall upon ——a1398
to start on ——a1398
oppugn?1435
to lay to, untoa1500
onseta1522
wipe1523
to set against ——1542
to fall aboard——1593
aggress1596
to fall foul1602
attack1613
appugn1615
to set upon ——1639
to fall on ——1641
to lay home, hard, hardly to1650
tack1720
bombard1766
savage1796
to pitch into ——1823
to begin upon a personc1825
bulldog1842
to down on (also upon)a1848
to set at ——1849
to start on ——a1851
to start in on1859
set on at or to1862
to let into1872
to go for ——1890
swash1890
slog1891
to get at ——1893
tee1955
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > ill-treatment > cruelty > treat cruelly [verb (transitive)]
savage1796
brutalize1879
1796 C. Smith Marchmont III. 146 She used to savage me so..that I shall never go near them any more.
1898 W. T. Stead Gladstone in Contemp. Caricature v. 61 It was the very men who had done most to drive him to intervene, who ‘savaged’ him worst.
1926 Bulletin 9 June 13 He is much too severe on the form of novels—the Cogglesby comedy in ‘Evan’ is savaged, for example.
1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xxxiv. 319 Once he stroked it [sc. a picture] absently, as he had done when it was his, and was savaged by an attendant.
1989 G. Daly Pre-Raphaelites in Love ii. 36 He had struggled to paint a difficult and daring Annunciation, only to have the picture savaged by critics.
2005 Time Out 7 Dec. 177/3 Brian Moore's source novel savaged the complicity of France's Catholic church in protecting a fugitive wartime Nazi collaborator.
b. transitive. Of an animal or (occasionally) person: to attack ferociously, esp. by biting and tearing; to maul.In the 19th cent. used chiefly of a horse (cf. savage n.1 1b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > habits and actions > [verb (transitive)] > snap at or bite
gnasp1530
snap1530
savage1838
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > biting > bite [verb (transitive)]
britOE
biteOE
forbitec1275
to-bite1375
hancha1400
pincha1425
savage1838
maul1848
bebite1880
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (transitive)] > bite
savage1880
1838 New Sporting Mag. Oct. 246 A person had been previously..frightfully gored and savaged.
1880 W. Day Racehorse in Training v. 38 In the stalls the bars should be put up between them, so that..they may be hindered kicking and savaging each other.
1891 N. Gould Double Event 12 A dangerous horse had thrown Thurton to the ground, and was ‘savaging’ him.
1894 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 Nov. 7/3 Alexander III was daily caricatured as a bear with an Imperial crown, who wished to savage the best of his subjects.
1929 G. K. Chesterton Poet & Lunatic 107 I can no more see him savaging somebody like poor young Saunders than I can see him kicking a crippled child.
1968 T. Kinsella Nightwalker 28 Pigs in a slaughteryard that turn and savage each other.
2006 M. Amis House of Meetings iv. i. 206 The five-year-old..was savaged by a German shepherd belonging to the security forces.
c. transitive. More generally: to damage or harm (a person or thing); to treat harshly or savagely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)]
mareOE
shendOE
hinderc1000
amarOE
awemc1275
noyc1300
touchc1300
bleche1340
blemisha1375
spill1377
misdoa1387
grieve1390
damagea1400
despoil?a1400
matea1400
snapea1400
mankc1400
overthrowa1425
tamec1430
undermine1430
blunder1440
depaira1460
adommage?1473
endamage1477
prejudicec1487
fulyie1488
martyra1500
dyscrase?1504
corrupt1526
mangle1534
danger1538
destroy1542
spoil1563
ruinate1564
ruin1567
wrake1570
injury1579
bane1587
massacre1589
ravish1594
wrong1595
rifle1604
tainta1616
mutilea1618
to do violence toa1625
flaw1665
stun1676
quail1682
maul1694
moil1698
damnify1712
margullie1721
maul1782
buga1790
mux1806
queer1818
batter1840
puckeroo1840
rim-rack1841
pretty1868
garbage1899
savage1899
to do in1905
strafe1915
mash1924
blow1943
nuke1967
mung1969
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > treat violently [verb (transitive)] > treat violently or roughly
to lay hands (or hand) on or upon (also in, to)OE
ransacka1400
attamec1430
ruffle1489
tug1493
to shear against the wool1546
rumble1570
finger1572
to pull about1679
misguggle1814
rowdy1825
to jerk around1833
scrag1835
rough1845
hooligan1898
roughhouse1898
savage1899
to rough up1915
to treat 'em rough1918
1899 G. W. Steevens In India xx. 187 It takes some regulation to prevent the torrent from savaging banks and bottom.
1915 H. G. Wells Boon 233 The southwest wind savaged his villa.
1963 A. Ross Australia 63 19 M.C.C.'s batsmen were offered only cut-price bowling, and they savaged it accordingly.
1991 Independent 5 Jan. 34/1 These ersatz artists savage London Underground's silver trains with asinine graffiti.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.21892
adj.n.1a1275v.1563