conservation
[kon-ser-vey-shuhn]
- the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation: conservation of wildlife; conservation of human rights.
- official supervision of rivers, forests, and other natural resources in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management.
- a district, river, forest, etc., under such supervision.
- the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.
- the restoration and preservation of works of art.
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Origin of conservation
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
control, management, supervision, protection, conservancy, maintenance, care, keeping, safekeeping, saving, attention, storage, governing, upkeep, economy, salvation, custody, guardianship, stewardship, sustentationExamples from the Web for conservation
Contemporary Examples
But three hours from the construction site, the war between oil and conservation is palpable.
Interestingly, the League of Conservation Voters is a big player here.
The conservation world, Carlisle says, is “not prepared to take on underworld.”
First, Secret World teamed with the British Chelonia Group, an organization dedicated to the care and conservation of turtles.
How the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Inadvertently Caused an Environmental CrisisAlex Suskind
August 5, 2014
I was frankly worried that a lot of people who work in conservation would be upset by the book.
Historical Examples
The principle involved in this effort is that of conservation.
Conservation must, therefore, be the rule, and desinence the impossible exception.
Life: Its True GenesisR. W. Wright
I see the same law working in nature for conservation and growth.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
He then appealed to the people to intensify their conservation of wheat.
Herbert HooverVernon Kellogg
In its public aspect we have labeled the problem, conservation.
Higher Education and Business StandardsWillard Eugene Hotchkiss
conservation
- the act or an instance of conserving or keeping from change, loss, injury, etc
- protection, preservation, and careful management of natural resources and of the environment
- (as modifier)a conservation area
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for conservation
n.
late 14c., conservacioun, "preservation of one's health and soundness," from Latin conservationem (nominative conservatio) "a keeping, preserving, conserving," noun of action from past participle stem of conservare (see conserve). Meaning "preservation of existing conditions" in any sense is from mid-15c. Since late 15c., in reference to English municipal authorities who had charge of rivers, sewers, forests, fisheries, etc. Specifically of the environment from 1922.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
conservation
[kŏn′sûr-vā′shən]
- The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural environments and the ecological communities that inhabit them. Conservation is generally held to include the management of human use of natural resources for current public benefit and sustainable social and economic utilization.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.