Where does “salvaje” come from?

salvaje (Old Portuguese) comes from Old Occitan salvatge, from Vulgar Latin salvaticus, from Latin silvāticus, from Latin -aticus, from Latin -ātus, from Proto-Italic -ātos, from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂tos — Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality.

Ancestry of “salvaje”, step by step

salvaje traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Old Occitan salvatge

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Old Occitan	salvatge	—
2	Vulgar Latin	salvaticus	—
3	Latin	silvāticus	of the woods, sylvan
4	Latin	-aticus	Used to form adjectives indicating a relation to...
5	Latin	-ātus	ed
6	Proto-Italic	-ātos	—
7	Proto-Indo-European	-éh₂tos	Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality

via Old Occitan sauvatge

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Old Occitan	sauvatge	savage

via Old Occitan salvatxe

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Old Occitan	salvatxe	—

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂tos →Every word from Latin -ātus →Every word from Latin -aticus →