Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SAV'AGE, n.

1. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized or without cultivation of mind or manners. The savages of America, when uncorrupted by the vices of civilized men, are remarkable for their hospitality to strangers, and for their truth, fidelity and gratitude to their friends, but implacably cruel and revengeful toward their enemies. From this last trait of the savage character, the word came to signify,
2. A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian.
3. The name of a genus of fierce voracious flies. – Dict. Nat. Hist.