conservation

[ kon-ser-vey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for: conservationconservational on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss;preservation: conservation of wildlife;conservation of human rights.

  2. official supervision of rivers, forests, and other natural resources in order to preserve and protect them through prudent management.

  1. a district, river, forest, etc., under such supervision.

  2. the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.

  3. the restoration and preservation of works of art.

Origin of conservation

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English conservacioun, from Latin conservātiōn- (stem of conservātiō ), equivalent to conservāt(us) (past participle of conservāre “to save, preserve”) + -iōn- noun suffix; see conserve, -ate1, -ion

Other words for conservation

Other words from conservation

  • con·ser·va·tion·al, adjective
  • an·ti·con·ser·va·tion, noun, adjective
  • non·con·ser·va·tion, noun
  • non·con·ser·va·tion·al, adjective
  • pro·con·ser·va·tion, adjective
  • self-con·ser·va·tion, noun

Words Nearby conservation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use conservation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for conservation

conservation

/ (ˌkɒnsəˈveɪʃən) /


noun
  1. 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

Derived forms of conservation

  • conservational, adjective

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

Scientific definitions for conservation

conservation

[ kŏn′sûr-vāshən ]


  1. 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.