An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Salbe

by Friedrich Kluge

Salbe, feminine, ‘salve,’ from the equivalent Middle High German salbe, Old High German salba, feminine; a common Teutonic term; compare Old Saxon salƀa, Dutch zalf, Anglo-Saxon sealf, English salve (Gothic *salba, feminine, may be inferred from salbôn, ‘to anoint’). The Teutonic salbô-, from pre-Teutonic solpã-, is entirely unrelated to Greek ἀλείφω; Greek ἕλπος, ‘oil,’ ἔλφος, ‘butter,’ ὄλπη, ‘oil-flask,’ Sanscrit sarpís, neuter, ‘grease,’ are more probably allied to Salbe.