'time-saver' originates from English, specifically the compound of the words 'time' and 'saver', where 'time' comes from Old English 'tima' meaning 'period' or 'time' and 'saver' derives from the verb 'save' (from Latin 'salvare') meaning 'to keep safe' or 'to rescue (from loss)'.

'time' changed from Old English 'tima' into Middle English 'tyme' and then modern English 'time'; 'save' passed from Latin 'salvare' into Old French 'sauver' and Middle English 'saven'/'save', and the compound 'time-saver' emerged in modern English (chiefly 20th century) to denote things that "save time".

Initially the elements meant 'period' ('time') and 'to save/rescue' ('save'); combined as 'time-saver' the phrase came to mean specifically 'something that reduces the time needed for an activity' rather than a literal act of rescuing time.