What is the Latin word for savior?

The usual Latin words for “savior” are servō, servātor, salvātor; also sospitō, Stātius. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“savior” in Latin

servōto maintain, keep; to protect, save, keep, guard, safeguard, watch over; to give heed to, pay attention to; watch, obser servātorwatcher, observer; preserver, keeper, saviour, guardian salvātorsaviour sospitōto keep safe, to save Stātiusa masculine praenomen, famously held by

The English word savior itself goes back to Latin salvus, through salvātor.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

savior

servator; feminine, servatrix. THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, Salvator (Tert.): sospitator (Apul.): *nostrae salutis Auctor: humani generis Assertor (Muret). ☞ Salutis Auctor, or the like, is better, in this sense, than Servator; because, while Servator does mean savior or deliverer (e.g., servator reipublicae, Cic.; servator mundi, PROP.), it was also employed (poetically) to signify merely “one who watches or tends” (e.g., servator Olympi, Lucanus; servator nemoris, Statius); and hence servator animarum may be = “one who has the care of souls;” although other renderings of that phrase are preferable, on account of the equivocal meaning.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for savior?: The usual Latin words for “savior” are servō, servātor, salvātor; also sospitō, Stātius. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.