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The words, "Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present generation, to preserve your freedom!" refer to what?

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preserve

American  

[pri-zurv] / prɪˈzɜrv /

verb (used with object)

• preserves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• preserved,
  past participle,  past
• preserving
  present participle

1. 

   to keep alive or in existence; make lasting.

   to preserve our liberties as free citizens.

   Synonyms:

   conserve

   Antonyms:

   destroy

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

   Synonyms:

   shield, shelter, safeguard

3. to keep up; maintain.

   to preserve historical monuments.

   Synonyms:

   sustain, keep up, continue

4. to keep possession of; retain.

   to preserve one's composure.

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

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

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

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verb (used without object)

• preserves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• preserved,
  past participle,  past
• preserving
  present participle

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

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

noun

• preserves
  plural

1. something that preserves.

2. that which is preserved.

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

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

preserve British  

/ prɪˈzɜːv /

verb

1. to keep safe from danger or harm; protect

2. to protect from decay or dissolution; maintain

   to preserve old buildings

3. to maintain possession of; keep up

   to preserve a façade of indifference

4. to prevent from decomposition or chemical change

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

6. to make preserves of (fruit, etc)

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

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

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noun

1. something that preserves or is preserved

2. a special area or domain

   archaeology is the preserve of specialists

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

4. areas where game is reared for private hunting or fishing

Synonym Usage

See defend.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preservability
  noun
• preservation
  noun
• preserver
  noun
• nonpreservable
  adjective
• preservable
  adjective
• unpreservable
  adjective
• preservably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• preserves
  plural

Participles

• preserving
  present
• preserved
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• preserve
  simple
• preserves
  simple
• have preserved
  perfect
• has preserved
  perfect
• am preserving
  progressive
• are preserving
  progressive
• is preserving
  progressive
• have been preserving
  perfect progressive
• has been preserving
  perfect progressive

Past

• preserved
  simple
• had preserved
  perfect
• was preserving
  progressive
• were preserving
  progressive
• had been preserving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will preserve
  simple
• will have preserved
  perfect
• will be preserving
  progressive
• will have been preserving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of preserve

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English preserven, from Medieval Latin praeservāre “to guard” ( Late Latin: “to observe”), equivalent to Latin prae- prefix meaning “before, prior to, in advance” ( see pre-) + servāre “to watch over, keep, preserve, observe”

Explanation

When you preserve something, you maintain its condition, like trying to preserve your good health by exercising regularly and eating right. The verb preserve describes keeping something as it is now, without a decline in quality. It can also refer to keeping something safe from harm, as in “The group worked hard to preserve the regional ecosystem.” When you preserve food, such as fruit, you keep it from rotting. Jellies and jams are preserves, the noun form. A preserve can also be lands set aside, or preserved, as animal habitats.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

preserve preserves preserved preserving

Stop reading now if you want to preserve the surprise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

Rather than simply observing cells as they divide, the system allows scientists to preserve a record of their history directly within their DNA.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

It is often presented as a way for women to help preserve their fertility and, in some cases, delay motherhood.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Nurses preserve handprints and footprints for grieving families.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

“The preserve stretches for many miles in some directions. Much bigger than you would suppose.”

From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull

I love to hike in nature preserves, but don’t want them as my next-door neighbors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Your prenup preserves your financial independence, but it doesn’t deal with your emotional codependence — that takes work on both your parts.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

When that much is going out, it feels especially good to do something small that preserves a little energy for me.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

It preserves the merger rather than blocking consolidation, while relying on monitoring, production requirements and penalties to limit its consequences.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

The air was sweet with the aroma of boiling jellies and preserves and the laughter of the women.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

The technology is decidedly futuristic, but the company has deliberately preserved a person at the point of service.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

In boglands near Gullåkra, organic material such as wood, bone, skin and even clothing were preserved due to a lack of oxygen and the suppression of microbes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

One important site is the Weng'an Biota in China, a roughly 590 million year old fossil deposit preserved in rocks of Ediacaran age.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Hanna Halmeenpaa, chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, had previously told the AFP news agency that "nature sites which should be preserved" had been felled.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Today Greylock sits on 11,600 acres of preserved land.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

“Lufthansa Group is pursuing a clear strategic agenda: to support TAP Air Portugal’s growth while preserving its national identity and to sustainably strengthen Portugal’s connectivity, particularly with North and Latin America,” the group said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

A carousel of 135 slides dating from 1976 to 1996 will accompany the four-gallery survey, underscoring the role documentation has played in preserving work created in remote locations for brief periods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

"These findings reveal new therapeutic targets for preserving vascular function and limiting amyloid accumulation."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

The spinoff ”allows for greater freedom to operate with other seed technologies companies” while preserving the close relationship between Corteva and Vylor, she noted.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Farmer seemed to care less about the notion that someone should be considered innocent until proven guilty than about preserving a thin-edged calm in a jittery country.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• conserve
• defend
• freeze
• keep
• perpetuate
• protect
• retain
• safeguard
• save
• secure
• store
• sustain
• uphold