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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

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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”

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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

Berlin has, for its part, asked the head of the Italian bank, Andrea Orcel, to preserve the role of Germany’s second-largest private bank in the country’s economy.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

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

She kneeled beside Brigit, pulling the glowing thread of light into it like how Mama made her catch tendrils of smoke above her skillets to preserve good conjure work.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

Use of the market path accomplishes at least two things that are important to Warsh: It preserves market signals and it gets the Fed out of forward interest-rate guidance.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

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

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

He trailed along behind his mother as she hung wash out on the line, made strawberry preserves, scrubbed the bathroom floor.

From "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

On Wednesday, Judge I'Ashea Myles ordered that "anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved and maintained," including IV lines and syringes, as well as waste, such as packaging, inserts and labels.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

The judge, I'Ashea Myles, ordered that "anything that was in the actual room needs to be preserved and maintained," including IV lines and syringes, as well as waste, like packaging, inserts, and labels.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

She had evidently been a handsome woman, and was well preserved still.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Joseva Kunagado, 21, leads the youth of Naidiri Village in preserving the health of their protected area.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

GAE is designed to interrupt this process by reducing blood flow through the abnormal vessels while preserving the knee's normal circulation.

From Science Daily ● 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

This technology allows researchers to study gene activity while preserving information about where individual cells are located within a tissue.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Both men plunged into the work of preserving her with unguents and filling her with mortician’s paste.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

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Related Words

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

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