Today's Word "Salvo"
Published in Vocabulary
salvo \SAEL-vo\ (noun) - 1a : A volley of fire from firearms, a firearms salute, especially from one ship to another; 1b : a sudden outburst, as of cheers or a verbal or written assault. 2a : In law, an article of reservation, a provision allowing that a law or contract is not binding if it conflicts with a specified right; 2b : an expedient that salvages face or one's reputation.
"When they heard of the war with Albania, newspapers around the country fired an editorial salvo at the Prime Minister's foreign policy."
Today's word comes via Italian "salva" from Latin salve "Hail!" the imperative of salvere "to be in good health" from salvus "well, unharmed." This Latin word may be found in numerous English words borrowed from Latin: "salvation," "salvage," and "save" (but not "salve"). The original Proto-Indo-European root was *sol- "whole," which, with other suffixes, also gave us "salute, "solid" and "soldier" by way of French. In Greek that initial [s] became the [h] in holos "whole," found in "holistic" and "holography."
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