preservative
[pri-zur-vuh-tiv]
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- tending to preserve.
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Origin of preservative
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for preservative
Contemporary Examples
Thimerosal was dropped as a preservative in MMR vaccines in 1999, but since then autism rates have skyrocketed.
Historical Examples
It was told to me as a preservative against the danger of loving her.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
Bodies in the dissecting-rooms are injected with preservative fluid.
I took that body along, encased in the Martian preservative, solidifex.
The Long VoyageCarl Richard Jacobi
Indeed, the preservative virtues of the cold struck me with astonishment.
The Frozen PirateW. Clark Russell
As an example of the action of lime as a preservative of lumber.
preservative
- something that preserves or tends to preserve, esp a chemical added to foods to inhibit decomposition
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- tending or intended to preserve
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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 preservative
adj.
late 14c., from Old French preservatif and directly from Medieval Latin praeservativus, from stem of praeservare (see preserve (v.)). The noun is from early 15c., "a preservative medication;" sense of "chemical added to foods to keep them from rotting" is from 1875.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
preservative
(prĭ-zûr′və-tĭv)- A substance added to food products or to organic solutions to prevent decomposition due to chemical change or bacterial action.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.