preserve

[pri-zurv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR preserve ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

to keep alive or in existence; make lasting: to preserve our liberties as free citizens.

to keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare.

to keep up; maintain: to preserve historical monuments.

to keep possession of; retain: to preserve one's composure.

to prepare (food or any perishable substance) so as to resist decomposition or fermentation.

to prepare (fruit, vegetables, etc.) by cooking with sugar, pickling, canning, or the like.

to maintain and reserve (game, fish, etc.) for continued survival or for private use, as in hunting or fishing.

verb (used without object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

to preserve fruit, vegetables, etc.; make preserves.

to maintain a preserve for game or fish, especially for sport.

noun

something that preserves.

that which is preserved.

Usually preserves. fruit, vegetables, etc., prepared by cooking with sugar.

a place set apart for protection and propagation of game or fish, especially for sport.

Origin of preserve

1325–75; Middle English preserven < Medieval Latin praeservāre to guard (Late Latin: to observe), equivalent to Latin prae- pre- + servāre to watch over, keep, preserve, observe

Related formspre·serv·a·ble, adjectivepre·serv·a·bil·i·ty, nounpres·er·va·tion

[prez-er-vey-shuhn] /ˌprɛz ərˈveɪ ʃən/, nounpre·serv·er, nounnon·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectivenon·pres·er·va·tion, nounsem·i·pre·served, adjectiveun·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectiveun·pre·served, adjective

Synonyms for preserve

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR preserve ON THESAURUS.COM

1. conserve. 2. safeguard, shelter, shield. 3. continue, uphold, sustain.

Synonym study

2. See defend.

Antonyms for preserve

1. destroy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for preserve

perpetuate, protect, save, secure, uphold, defend, freeze, keep, sustain, retain, safeguard, conserve, store, refrigerate, shield, shelter, season, mummify, evaporate, process

Examples from the Web for preserve

Contemporary Examples of preserve

Or bold stands that may not preserve our security today or tomorrow, but keep our principles safely intact?
Should the U.S. Really Pay a Kim’s Ransom?
Kevin Bleyer
December 21, 2014
These cases demonstrate how governments struggle to preserve historic sites.
For Rent: Priceless Historic Sites
Elinor Betesh
November 16, 2014
Why do they sincerely try to restore, or preserve, the line between the two, and get heartbroken when the line fails?
A Reminder: Our Justices are Politicians in Robes
Jedediah Purdy
November 13, 2014
Advocates claimed that it helped to preserve virtue and to affirm the application of Sharia law.
Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the Veil
Manal Al Sharif, Advancing Human Rights
October 30, 2014
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve.
Lincoln Was the Founders’ Heir Apparent
Harvey J. Kaye
October 22, 2014

Historical Examples of preserve

May the powers that guide our destiny, preserve you from any real cause for shame.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Let us, then, look to the great cause, and endeavor to preserve it in full force.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
And it is the world's only hope, to conquer poverty and preserve peace.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Unless we in America work to preserve the peace, there will be no peace.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various

British Dictionary definitions for preserve

preserve

verb (mainly tr)

to keep safe from danger or harm; protect

to protect from decay or dissolution; maintainto preserve old buildings

to maintain possession of; keep upto preserve a façade of indifference

to prevent from decomposition or chemical change

to prepare (food), as by freezing, drying, or salting, so that it will resist decomposition

to make preserves of (fruit, etc)

to rear and protect (game) in restricted places for hunting or fishing

(intr) to maintain protection and favourable conditions for game in preserves

noun

something that preserves or is preserved

a special area or domainarchaeology is the preserve of specialists

(usually plural) fruit, etc, prepared by cooking with sugar

areas where game is reared for private hunting or fishing

Derived Formspreservable, adjectivepreservability, nounpreservably, adverbpreservation (ˌprɛzəˈveɪʃən), nounpreserver, noun

Word Origin for preserve

C14: via Old French, from Late Latin praeservāre literally: to keep safe in advance, from Latin prae- before + servāre to keep safe

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 preserve

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.

"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.