preservative

American  

[pri-zur-vuh-tiv] / prɪˈzɜr və tɪv /

noun

1. something that preserves or tends to preserve.

2. a chemical substance used to preserve foods or other organic materials from decomposition or fermentation.

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adjective

1. tending to preserve.

preservative British  

/ prɪˈzɜːvətɪv /

noun

1. something that preserves or tends to preserve, esp a chemical added to foods to inhibit decomposition

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adjective

1. tending or intended to preserve

Other Word Forms

• nonpreservative adjective

Etymology

Origin of preservative

1350–1400; Middle English (adj. and noun) < Middle French preservatif (adj.) < Medieval Latin praeservātīvus. See preserve, -ative

Example Sentences

Researchers compared samples collected with and without a preservative and found 98.75% agreement between results, showing that the preservative did not interfere with the test.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

Costco’s famed $4.99 rotisserie chicken is under fire in a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the big box warehouse falsely advertised that its birds were preservative free.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026

More than 700,000 of those products contained at least one preservative.

From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2026

The new panel made its first decision last week, voting to stop recommending a small number of flu vaccines that still contain the preservative thimerosal, something Kennedy wrote a book about in 2015.

From BBC • Jun. 30, 2025

The cant of the ship made for hard pushing, but under their combined effort, the spool slowly rumbled forward, crunching over blistered preservative paint and loosened metal deck plates.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Related Words

• vinegar