Sust. men's. 1. action and effect of saving, primarily to people. 2. fire-extinguishing. 3. site of protection in case of danger. The term is a gallicism: French «sauvetage», which the Italian "salvataggio", from derived both from the transitive verb Latin «it salvare»: save, added an infix "t" for euphony. The ending "aje" indicates complex, intensive actions.