Do the two words share some kind of etymological origin, or is it a coincidence they sound kinda similar?
Coincidence. “Saint” comes from the Latin “sanctus” (“holy”), while “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word “satan”, from the root S-T-N meaning “oppose”.
It’s a coincidence. Satan comes from the Semitic languages (cf. Hebrew satan, Arabic shaitan).
Saint stems from Latin sanctus “holy”.
Tell that to the dyslexic devil worshipper who sold his soul to Santa.
Thanks!
I bet he got some damn nice gifts, though.
If a key aspect of the similarity you observed was the “long A” sound, be aware that such vowel sounds are seldom a reliable indicator of linguistic commonality. A more helpful indicator is consonant placement, such as you see in “saint” and “Santa,” which do have a common root, even though they don’t sound similar in the way that “saint” and “Satan” do.