preserve
pronunciation
How to pronounce preserve in British English:
UK [prɪˈzɜːv]
How to pronounce preserve in American English:
US [prɪˈzɜːrv]
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- Noun:
- a domain that seems to be specially reserved for someone
- a reservation where animals are protected
- fruit preserved by cooking with sugar
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- Verb:
- keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last
- keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction
- to keep up and reserve for personal or special use
- prevent (food) from rotting
- maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger
- keep undisturbed for personal or private use for hunting, shooting, or fishing
Word Origin
- preserve
- preserve: [14] The -serve of preserve comes from Latin servāre ‘keep safe’ (no relation to servīre ‘serve’, but source also of English conserve, observe, and reserve). Combination with prae- ‘before’ produced medieval Latin praeservāre ‘guard beforehand, take steps to ward off possible harm’, which reached English via Old French preserver.=> conserve, observe, reserve
- preserve (v.)
- late 14c., "keep safe," from Anglo-French preservare, Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin preservare "keep, preserve," from Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + servare "to keep safe" (see observe). As a treatment of fruit, etc., 1570s; of organic bodies from 1610s. Related: Preserved; preserving.
- preserve (n.)
- "fruit preserved with sugar," c. 1600, from preserve (v.). Earlier it meant "a preservative" (1550s). Sense of "protected place for animals or plants" (a sense more properly belonging to conserve) is from 1807.
Antonym
Example
- 1. It 's meant to help preserve wealth , and as such doesn 't use direct leverage .
- 2. Or has sergio marchionne figured out a way to preserve its wilderness cred ?
- 3. For it is still the preserve of chinese investors .
- 4. Can they preserve their static conception of their societies ?
- 5. The government should take steps to preserve the natural resource .