Savage

a. [O. Eng. salvage, O. Fr. sauvage, salvage, N. Fr. sauvage, Pr. salvatge, Sp. salvage, It. salvaggio, selvaggio, salvatico, selvatrico, from Lat. silvaticus, belonging to a wood, wild, from silva, a wood.]

1Sense 1. Pertaining to the forest; remote from human residence and improvements; uncultivated; wild; as, a savage wilderness. “Cornels and savage berries of the wood.” Dryden.

2Sense 2. Wild; untamed; as, savage beasts of prey.

3Sense 3. Uncivilized; untaught; unpolished; rude; as, savage life; savage manners.

What nation, since the commencement of the Christian era, ever rose from savage to civilized without Christianity? E. D. Griffin.

4Sense 4. Characterized by cruelty; barbarous; fierce; ferocious; inhuman; brutal; as, a savage spirit.

Synonyms—Ferocious; wild; uncultivated; untamed; untaught; uncivilized; unpolished; rude; brutish; brutal; heathenish; barbarous; cruel; inhuman; fierce; pitiless; merciless; unmerciful; murderous. See FEROCIOUS.

n. 1. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or manners. 2. A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian.

v. t. To make wild, barbarous, or cruel. [Rare.] Thomson.