Safety
nounThe condition of being protected from danger, risk, or injury.
How to spell safety
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce safety
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does safety mean?
- nounThe condition of being protected from danger, risk, or injury.
Safety in a sentence
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The factory introduced new rules to improve worker safety.
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Parents worry about the safety of their children on busy roads.
Where does safety come from?
Language of origin: French
The word safety comes from the Old French sauvete, meaning 'safety' or 'salvation', which itself descended from the Latin salvitas, built on salvus, meaning 'unharmed', 'healthy', or 'whole'. English adopted the term in the 1300s, at first carrying the sense of being rescued or kept from harm, closely tied to ideas of salvation. The same Latin salvus root lies behind a whole family of English words including 'safe', 'save', 'salvage', and 'salvation'. Over time safety settled into its everyday meaning of freedom from danger or risk. The spelling keeps the 'safe' base fully visible before the -ty ending, which is the helpful clue: it is simply safe plus ty, with the silent e of 'safe' dropped.
How the word is built
- safe (free from harm)
- -ty (noun-forming suffix denoting state or quality)
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