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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

saving.

A reduction in cost or expenditure.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈseɪ.vɪŋ/Canada, UK, US/ˈsæɪ.vɪŋ/Australia

  1. A reduction in cost or expenditure.

    countable · uncountable
    The shift of the supplier gave us a saving of 10 percent.

  2. Something (usually money) that is saved, particularly money that has been set aside for the future.

    countable · plural-normally
    I invested all my savings in gold.
    The collapse of Enron wiped out the life savings of many people, leaving them poor in their retirement.

  3. The action of the verb to save.

    uncountable

  4. Exception; reservation.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
    saving and transitional provisions
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-der. Proto-Italic *salawos Latin salvus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin salvō Latin salvāre Old French sauverbor. Middle English saven English save English -ing English saving From save + -ing.

adj/ˈseɪ.vɪŋ/Canada, UK, US/ˈsæɪ.vɪŋ/Australia

  1. That saves someone from damnation; redemptive.

  2. Preserving; rescuing.

  3. Thrifty; frugal.

  4. Bringing back in returns or in receipts the sum expended; incurring no loss, though not gainful.

    a saving bargain
    The ship has made a saving voyage.

  5. Making reservation or exception.

    a saving clause

  6. Relating to making a saving.

    in-compounds
    labour-saving
    energy-saving light bulbs
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-der. Proto-Italic *salawos Latin salvus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin salvō Latin salvāre Old French sauverbor. Middle English saven English save English -ing English saving From save + -ing.

prep/ˈseɪ.vɪŋ/Canada, UK, US/ˈsæɪ.vɪŋ/Australia

  1. Synonym of save (“except for”)

  2. Without disrespect to.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-der. Proto-Italic *salawos Latin salvus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin salvō Latin salvāre Old French sauverbor. Middle English saven English save English -ing English saving From save + -ing.

verb/ˈseɪ.vɪŋ/Canada, UK, US/ˈsæɪ.vɪŋ/Australia

  1. present participle and gerund of save

    form-of · gerund · participle · present
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-der. Proto-Italic *salawos Latin salvus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin salvō Latin salvāre Old French sauverbor. Middle English saven English save English -ing English saving From save + -ing.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.