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Any commonality in the origins? In Portuguese, selvagem means 'wild'; 'feral.'
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Carpal Tunnel
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interesting idea, AnnaS, since i think the rights to salvage are based on 'laws of the jungle'--a sort of wild law.
(if you're on a sinking ship, in the middle of the sea, you really don't have a very big bargaining chip...it a case of your money or your life...)
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Selvage is from Middle English self plus egge 'edge'. The Portuguese word would be from Latin silva 'woods, forest'. As with WW's grandmother, I sure there's lots of chance for confusion with salvage (from OFr from LL salvare 'to save'). Reminds me of a local city here in the SF Bay Area, El Sobrante from the Spanish for 'left over, surplus'.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dante:
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
che la diritta via era smarrita
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, with this connection to the wild, isn't it ironic that the selvade edge of fabric is actually an edge that has been tamed?
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Yes, Dante starts out his Divine Comedy in medias res, lost in a murky wood having lost his way. Luckily, Virgil comes along to help him out.
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Carpal Tunnel
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AnnaS, you say that selvagem means "wild, feral." Does Portuguese distinguish between these two concepts? Just yesterday I was reading an article about "i gatti inselvatichiti dell'Australia". Does Portuguese have a similar word, one obviously drawn from selvagem that conveys the idea of "feral", as opposed to "wild"?
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sav•age . . . adjective / Etymology: Middle English sauvage, from Middle French, from Late Latin salvaticus, alteration of Latin silvaticus of the woods, wild, from silva wood, forest / Date: 13th century / 1 a : not domesticated or under human control : UNTAMED <savage beasts> b : lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings : FIERCE, FEROCIOUS / 2 : WILD, UNCULTIVATED <seldom have I seen such savage scenery — Douglas Carruthers> / 3 a : BOORISH, RUDE <the savage bad manners of most motorists — M. P. O'Connor> b : MALICIOUS 4 : lacking complex or advanced culture : UNCIVILIZED synonym see FIERCE
sav•age . . . noun / Date: 15th century / 1 : a person belonging to a primitive society 2 : a brutal person 3 : a rude or unmannerly person
Merriam-Webster OnLine, (2000) www.merriam-
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Carpal Tunnel
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And in Spanish the word is salvaje (sal-VA-hey)meaning wild or untamed, feral.
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A long time ago a French Canadian told me about "Chats sauvages" pulling down many stalks of maize in his garden.
I mentally translated that as "wildcats" and couldn't imagine lynxes eating corn. Not until I had some racoons
raid my corn did I realize what he had meant.
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