Salvation
Etymology
From Latin “salvare” (to save), from “salvus” (safe, sound, whole), via Old French “salvacion.” The same root gives “safe,” “salubrious,” and the medical “salve,” tying spiritual rescue to older ideas of bodily wholeness and health. Christian usage narrowed the general sense of being kept safe to the saving of the soul.
noun · /sal-VAY-shun/
Deliverance of the soul from sin, death, or spiritual ruin.
What it names
The rescue that many traditions treat as the point of religious life — being made safe or whole.
Example
The sermon promised salvation, but she was more moved by the humbler idea of simply being made whole.
Related idea
Redemption stresses the price paid to buy someone back; salvation stresses the rescued end-state of being safe or whole.