Online Etymology Dictionary

satisfactory (adj.): mid-15c., "capable of atoning for sin," from Middle French satisfactoire (14c.) and directly from Late Latin satisfactorius, from Latin satisfactus, past participle of satisfacere (see satisfy). Meaning "adequate" is from 1630s. Related: Satisfactorily; satisfactoriness.
satisfice (v.): 1560s, "to satisfy" (implied in satisficed), altered of satisfy by influence of its Latin root satisfacere. A Northern English colloquial word; modern use from c. 1956 may be an independent formation. Related: Satisficing.
satisfied (adj.): 1816, "gratified," past participle adjective from satisfy.
satisfy (v.): early 15c., from Middle French satisfier, from Old French satisfaire "pay, repay, make reparation" (14c., Modern French satisfaire), from Latin satisfacere "discharge fully, comply with, make amends," literally "do enough," from satis "enough" (from PIE root *sa- "to satisfy;" see sad) + facere "to make, do, perform" (see factitious). Related: Satisfied; satisfying.
satisfying (adj.): c. 1600, present participle adjective from satisfy. Related: Satisfyingly.
satori (n.): 1727, from Japanese, said to mean literally "spiritual awakening."
satrap (n.): late 14c., "governor of a province of ancient Persia," from Latin satrapes, from Greek satrapes, from Old Persian xšathrapavan-, literally "guardian of the realm," from xšathra- "realm, province" (related to xšayathiya "king," cognate with Sanskrit kshatra; see shah) + pavan- "guardian," from PIE *pa- "to protect, feed" (see food). Related: Satrapy.
sattva (n.): "truth" (in Hindu philosophy), from Sanskrit sattvah "truth," literally "being," cognate with Gothic sunjis, Old English soð "true" (see sooth).
saturate (v.): 1530s, "to satisfy, satiate," from Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare "to fill full, sate, drench," from satur "sated, full," from PIE root *sa- "to satisfy" (see sad). Meaning "soak thoroughly" first recorded 1756. Marketing sense first recorded 1958. Related: Saturated; saturating.
saturation (n.): 1550s, formed in English from saturate, or else from Late Latin saturationem (nominative saturatio), noun of action from past participle stem of saturare. Saturation bombing is from 1942, first in reference to Allied air raid on Cologne, Germany.
Saturday (n.): seventh day of the week, Old English sæterdæg, sæternesdæg, literally "day of the planet Saturn," from Sæternes (genitive of Sætern; see Saturn) + Old English dæg (see day). Partial loan-translation of Latin Saturni dies "Saturn's day" (compare Dutch Zaterdag, Old Frisian Saterdi, Middle Low German Satersdach; Irish dia Sathuirn, Welsh dydd Sadwrn). The Latin word itself is a loan-translation of Greek kronou hemera, literally "the day of Cronus."

Unlike other English day names, no god substitution seems to have been attempted, perhaps because the northern European pantheon lacks a clear corresponding figure to Roman Saturn. A homely ancient Nordic custom, however, seems to be preserved in Old Norse laugardagr, Danish lørdag, Swedish lördag "Saturday," literally "bath day" (Old Norse laug "bath").

German Samstag (Old High German sambaztag) appears to be from a Greek *sambaton, a nasalized colloquial form of sabbaton "sabbath," also attested in Old Church Slavonic sabota, Polish sobota, Russian subbota, Hungarian szombat, French samedi.

Saturday night has been used figuratively to suggest "drunkenness and looseness in relations between the young men and young women" since at least mid-19c. Saturday-night special "cheap, low-caliber handgun" is American English, attested from 1976 (earlier Saturday-night pistol, 1929).
Saturn: Old English Sætern, a Roman god, also "most remote planet" (then known), from Latin Saturnus, originally a name of an Italic god of agriculture, possibly from Etruscan. Derivation from Latin serere (past participle satus) "to sow" is said to be folk-etymology.
An ancient Italic deity, popularly believed to have appeared in Italy in the reign of Janus, and to have instructed the people in agriculture, gardening, etc., thus elevating them from barbarism to social order and civilization. His reign was sung by the poets as "the golden age." [Century Dictionary]
Identified with Greek Kronos, father of Zeus. Also the alchemical name for lead (late 14c.). In Akkadian, the planet was kaiamanu, literally "constant, enduring," hence Hebrew kiyyun, Arabic and Persian kaiwan "Saturn." Related: Saturnian.
saturnalia (n.): time of merrymaking, 1590s, from Latin Saturnalia, ancient Roman festivals of Saturn (held in December), a time of merrymaking for all, from neuter plural of adjective Saturnalis "pertaining to Saturn," from Saturnus (see Saturn). They correspond to the Greek Kronia. The extended sense of "period of unrestrained revelry" is first attested 1782. Related: Saturnalian.
saturnine (adj.): "gloomy, morose, sluggish, grave," mid-15c., literally "born under the influence of the planet Saturn," from Middle English Saturne (see Saturn) + -ine (1). Medieval physiology believed these characteristics to be caused by the astrological influence of the planet Saturn, which was the most remote from the Sun (in the limited knowledge of the times) and thus coldest and slowest in its revolution.
satyagraha (n.): Indian form of passive resistance, 1920, in writings of M.K. Gandhi, from Sanskrit satyagraha "insistence on truth," from satya "truth, truthfulness" (from sat- "existing, true, virtuous," from PIE *es- "to be;" see essence) + agraha "pertinacity," from PIE *ghrebh- (1) "to seize, reach" (see grab (v.)).
satyr (n.): woodland deity, companion of Bacchus, late 14c., from Latin satyrus, from Greek satyros, of unknown origin. In pre-Roman Greek art, a man-like being with the tail and ears of a horse; the modern conception of a being part man, part goat is from Roman sculptors, who seem to have assimilated them to the fauns of native mythology. In some English bibles used curiously to translate Hebrew se'irim, a type of hairy monster superstitiously believed to inhabit deserts.
satyriasis (n.): "excessively great venereal desire in the male," 1650s, medical Latin, from Greek satyriasis, from satyros (see satyr). Also in same sense satyromania (1889).
satyric (adj.): c. 1600, from Latin satyricus, from Greek satyrikos "pertaining to a satyr or satyrs," from satyros (see satyr).
sauce (n.): mid-14c., from Old French sauce, sausse, from Latin salsa "things salted, salt food," noun use of fem. singular or neuter plural of adjective salsus "salted," from past participle of Old Latin sallere "to salt," from sal (genitive salis) "salt" (see salt (n.)).

Meaning "something which adds piquancy to words or actions" is recorded from c. 1500; sense of "impertinence" first recorded 1835 (see saucy, and compare sass). Slang meaning "liquor" first attested 1940.
sauce (v.): mid-15c., "to season," from sauce (n.). From 1862 as "to speak impertinently." Related: Sauced; saucing.
saucebox (n.): "one addicted to making saucy remarks," 1580s, from sauce (n.) + box (n.1).
saucepan (n.): 1680s, from sauce (n.) + pan (n.). Originally a pan for cooking sauces.
saucer (n.): mid-14c., from Anglo-Latin saucerium and Old French saussier (Modern French saucière) "sauce dish," from Late Latin salsarium, neuter of salsarius "of or for salted things," from Latin salsus (see sauce (n.)). Originally a small dish or pan in which sauce is set on a table. Meaning "small, round, shallow vessel for supporting a cup and retaining any liquid which might be spilled" is attested from c. 1702.
saucily (adv.): 1540s; see saucy + -ly (2).
sauciness (n.): 1540s, from saucy + -ness.
saucy (adj.): c. 1500, "resembling sauce," later "impertinent, flippantly bold, cheeky" (1520s), from sauce (n.) + -y (2). The connecting notion is the figurative sense of "piquancy in words or actions." Compare sauce malapert "impertinence" (1520s), and slang phrase to have eaten sauce "be abusive" (1520s). Also compare salty in same senses.
Saudi (adj.): 1933, from Sa'ud, family name of the rulers of Nejd from 18c. and of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1932. The name is from Arabic sa'd "good fortune, happiness." With common Semitic national designation suffix -i.
sauerkraut (n.): 1630s, from German Sauerkraut, literally "sour cabbage," from sauer "sour" (from Proto-Germanic *sura-; see sour (adj.)) + Kraut "vegetable, cabbage," from Old High German krut, from Proto-Germanic *kruthan.
They pickle it [cabbage] up in all high Germany, with salt and barberies, and so keepe it all the yeere, being commonly the first dish you have served in at table, which they call their sawerkrant. [James Hart, "Klinike, or the diet of the diseased," 1633]
In U.S. slang, figurative use for "a German" dates from 1858 (compare kraut). "The effort to substitute liberty-cabbage for sauerkraut, made by professional patriots in 1918, was a complete failure." [Mencken]. French choucroute (19c.) is from Alsatian German surkrut (corresponding to German Sauerkraut), with folk etymology alteration based on chou "cabbage" + croûte "crust" (n.).
Sauk (1): midwestern U.S. Indian tribe, 1722, alternative writing of Sac.
Sauk (2): southern Coastal Salishan group of Native Americans, from a native Lushootseed name, probably folk-etymologized by influence of Sauk (1).
Saul: masc. proper name, Biblical first king of Israel, from Latin Saul, from Hebrew Shaul, literally "asked for," passive participle of sha'al "he asked for."
sault (n.): "waterfall or rapid," c. 1600, from colonial French sault, 17c. alternative spelling of saut "to leap," from Latin saltus, from salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)).
sauna (n.): 1881, from Finnish sauna.
saunter (v.): late 15c., santren "to muse, be in reverie," of uncertain origin despite many absurd speculations. Meaning "walk with a leisurely gait" is from 1660s, and may be a different word. Klein suggests this sense of the word derives via Anglo-French sauntrer (mid-14c.) from French s'aventurer "to take risks," but OED finds this "unlikely." Related: Sauntered; sauntering.
saunter (n.): "a leisurely stroll," 1828, from saunter (v.). Earlier it meant "idle occupation, diversion" (1728).
saurian (n.): reptile of the order Sauria, 1819, from Modern Latin sauria "the order of reptiles," from Greek sauros "lizard" (see -saurus). Sauropod is 1891, from Modern Latin sauropoda (O.C. Marsh, 1884), second element from Greek pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)).
sausage (n.): mid-15c., sawsyge, from Old North French saussiche (Modern French saucisse), from Vulgar Latin *salsica "sausage," from salsicus "seasoned with salt," from Latin salsus "salted" (see sauce).
saute (n.): 1813, from French sauté, literally "jumped, bounced" (in reference to tossing continually while cooking), past participle of sauter "to jump," from Latin saltare "to hop, dance," frequentative of salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)). As an adjective, "fried quickly," from 1869. As a verb from 1859. Related: Sauteed.
Sauterne (n.): also Sauternes, name for certain white wines, 1711, from Sauterne, district near Bordeaux where it is made.
savage (adj.): mid-13c., "fierce, ferocious;" c. 1300, "wild, undomesticated, untamed" (of animals and places), from Old French sauvage, salvage "wild, savage, untamed, strange, pagan," from Late Latin salvaticus, alteration of silvaticus "wild," literally "of the woods," from silva "forest, grove" (see sylvan). Of persons, the meaning "reckless, ungovernable" is attested from c. 1400, earlier in sense "indomitable, valiant" (c. 1300).
savage (n.): "wild person," c. 1400, from savage (adj.).
savage (v.): "to tear with the teeth, maul," 1880, from savage (adj.). Earlier "to act the savage" (1560s). Related: Savaged; savaging.
savagely (adv.): c. 1400; see savage (adj.) + -ly (2).
savagery (n.): 1590s; see savage (adj.) + -ry.
savannah (n.): also savanna, "treeless plain," 1550s, from Spanish sabana, earlier zavana "treeless plain," from Taino (Arawakan) zabana. In U.S. use, especially in Florida, "a tract of low-lying marshy ground" (1670s).
Savannah: port city in U.S. state of Georgia, from savana, name applied to the Native Americans in the area by early European explorers, perhaps from a self-designation of the Shawnee Indians, or from the European topographical term (see savannah).
savant (n.): "one eminent for learning," 1719, from French savant "a learned man," noun use of adjective savant "learned, knowing," former present participle of savoir "to know," from Vulgar Latin *sapere, from Latin sapere "be wise" (see sapient).
savate (n.): French method of fighting with the feet, 1862, from French savate, literally "a kind of shoe" (see sabotage).
save (v.): c. 1200, "to deliver from some danger; rescue from peril, bring to safety," also "prevent the death of;" also theological, "to deliver from sin or its consequences; admit to eternal life; gain salvation," from Old French sauver "keep (safe), protect, redeem," from Late Latin salvare "make safe, secure," from Latin salvus "safe" (see safe (adj.)). From c. 1300 as "reserve for future use, hold back, store up instead of spending;" hence "keep possession of" (late 14c.).

Save face (1898) first was used among the British community in China and is said to be from Chinese; it has not been found in Chinese, but tiu lien "to lose face" does occur. To not (do something) to save one's life is recorded from 1848. To save (one's) breath "cease talking or arguing" is from 1926.
save (n.): in the sports sense of "act of preventing opponent from scoring," 1890, from save (v.).