preserved

American  

[pri-zurvd] / prɪˈzɜrvd /

adjective

1. (of food or any perishable substance) prepared by canning, pickling, salting, or the like, or treated by some process to prevent decomposition or fermentation.

   I had never had such fresh-tasting preserved fruit before.

2. kept safe from harm or injury; protected or spared.

   This is a wonderfully preserved example of Mayan cave art.

3. kept up or maintained; kept in good condition or health.

   Tucked in Amsterdam’s inner city is a uniquely preserved 17th-century house from the Dutch Golden Age.

4. kept alive or in existence.

   When I take a portrait photograph, I’m capturing a moment in a life, making it a preserved memory.

5. (of game or fish, natural habitats, etc.) maintained or reserved for continued hunting or fishing, or for private or public use and appreciation.

   New walking trails will be built through the preserved areas of parkland.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of preserve.

Other Word Forms

• semipreserved adjective
• unpreserved adjective

Etymology

Origin of preserved

First recorded in 1550–60; preserve ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; preserve ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

New rules will mean it has to be preserved within five days if it might be relevant to the cause of death, which hopefully means more families will get some answers.

From BBC

Among the oil paintings, art deco ephemera and geological artifacts, I wasn’t expecting a preserved memorial from the days following the 2015 terrorist attacks, and it leveled me.

From The Wall Street Journal

The same chemical signatures were detected on 250-year-old arrowheads preserved in Swedish museum collections.

From Science Daily

Scientists proposed that the molecules detected by Curiosity could be fragments of fatty acids that were preserved in the rock over vast stretches of time.

From Science Daily

By matching the models with real world evidence preserved in pollen, they were able to estimate how much each factor influenced plant cover.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• covered
• guaranteed
• guarded
• secured
• sheltered