Dictionary

screensaver en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈskɹiːnˌseɪ.və(ɹ)/

Etymology

Etymology tree English screen Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-der. Proto-Italic *salawos Latin salvus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin salvō Latin salvāre Old French sauverbor. Middle English saven English save Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English saver English screensaver From screen + saver.

Meanings

1. A computer program that displays aesthetic patterns or images when the computer is not being used, originally intended to prevent screenburn.
   • I configured my screensaver to appear after only two minutes, because I enjoyed watching it so much.
2. (proscribed) The background picture of a computer, smartphone, or similar mobile device.
   • If he wanted praise, or sympathy, or the chance to talk over a sensitive subject, he turned to me. A friend told me that she sat down at her computer one day to discover that her husband had changed her screensaver to read: “Be nice to Lloyd. 2012, Gretchen Rubin, Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life, Harmony, →ISBN:
   • But she changed her screensaver, which was a photo of Julian eating scrambled eggs—he was smiling, holding his fork away from himself, as if he were waving the eggs at her—and replaced it with a photo of Olivia, looking up from her desk […] 2008, Joshua Henkin, Matrimony, Vintage, →ISBN, page 163:
   • When I arrived at the lab this morning he was back sitting in front of his computer, a million miles away, leaning forward on his elbows and staring into the depths of space. He has changed his screensaver again. The Orion nebula has been replaced with some other astronomical scape, far bleaker in its appearance but more realistic. It looks like the outermost edge of the universe. 2016, Austin Duffy, This Living and Immortal Thing, Granta Books, →ISBN:
   • You can tell a lot about a person by the desk they keep. Her real name was Mary Stachowicz but we decided to call her Jenny Talia. It's funnier for us. She uses bulldog clips, which I think is a bit lesbiany, but I guess it's right for the character. Her screensaver is a picture of Cher, not the actual Cher, but her mother in fancy dress. 2012, Johnny McKnight, Double Nugget:
   • She sat at the desk and opened the drawers, then looked up at the computer screen and gave a snort. “Sally has Alex's picture as her screensaver. Ha, you'd think she'd be worried he'd see it. […]” 2016, Candy J Starr, The Trouble With Rock Stars: Jackson's Story:
   • I tiptoed over to Trent's nightstand and took his phone into the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bathtub as I entered his code. When I saw that he'd changed his screensaver from our wedding picture to a picture of Diamond, my blood began to boil. I couldn't believe that he'd done that. 2016, Tamia Gore-Felton, Bangles and Broken Hearts 3: Return of the Bangles, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 97:
   • While we waited for Zac to be taken into surgery, I thought of all of his suffering up to this point […] It brought to mind the screensaver that Zac, a few months earlier, had changed his Ipod to. 2015, Carol Ann Bartz, chapter 36, in The Believer: An Inspirational Story of Zachary David Bartz (The Boy Who Never Gave Up), →ISBN:

Forms

Translations (37)

ko 화면 보호기 (computer program) · fi ruudunsäästäjä (computer program) · pl wygaszacz ekranu (computer program) · cmn 屏幕保護程序 /屏幕保护程序 (computer program) · mr स्क्रीनसेव्हर (computer program) · pt descanso de tela (computer program) · es salvapantallas (computer program) · mi pūtiaki mata (computer program) · ko 스크린세이버 (computer program) · sv skärmsläckare (computer program) · nl schermbeveiliger (computer program) · pt protetor de ecrã (computer program) · fr écran de veille (computer program) · ja スクリーンセーバー (computer program) · es protector de pantalla (computer program) · uk скринсе́йвер (computer program) · hu képernyőkímélő (computer program) · ga spárálaí scáileáin (computer program) · pt (macOS) proteção de ecrã (computer program) · nl screensaver (computer program) · ka სკრინსეივერი (computer program) · fi näytönsäästäjä (computer program) · de Bildschirmschoner (computer program) · eu pantaila-babesle (computer program) · ru скринсе́йвер (computer program) · nb skjermsparer (computer program) · ar شَاشَة تَوَقُّف (computer program) · ka ეკრანმზოგი (computer program) · ca estalvi de pantalla (computer program) · hu képernyővédő (computer program) · ru храни́тель экра́на (computer program) · nrf saûveux d'êcran (computer program) · cs spořič obrazovky (computer program) · eo ekrankurtano (computer program) · vi trình bảo vệ màn hình (computer program) · ru заста́вка (computer program) · pt (macOS) protetor de tela (computer program)