Word Origin & History
savage (adj.)
c.1300, "wild, undomesticated, untamed" (of animals and places), from O.Fr. sauvage, salvage "wild, savage, untamed," from L.L. salvaticus, alteration of silvaticus "wild," lit. "of the woods," from silva "forest, grove." Of persons, the meaning "reckless, ungovernable" is attested from c.1400l earlier in sense "indomitable, valiant" (c.1300). Implications of ferocity are attested from 1579, earlier of animals (1407). The noun meaning "wild person" is from 1588; the verb meaning "to tear with the teeth, maul" is from 1880.
[sav-ij] 
ɪdʒ