preserve

[ pri-zurv ]

/ prɪˈzɜrv /

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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.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR preserve

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

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ANTONYMS FOR preserve

1. destroy.

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Related forms

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

[prez-er-vey-shuhn] /ˌprɛz ərˈveɪ ʃən/, nounpre·serv·er, noun

non·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectivenon·pres·er·va·tion, nounsem·i·pre·served, adjectiveun·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectiveun·pre·served, adjective

Synonym study

2. See defend.

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

Examples from the Web for preserver

He could be remade into a defender of the environment, a preserver of habitats and champion of rainforest ecology.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World?|Ted Gioia|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Swedes, full of gratitude and love for their preserver, wanted him to be crowned King of Sweden.
The Boy's Book of Heroes|Helena Peake
Vaishnav—worshipper of Vishnu, the preserver, one incarnation of whom is Krishna.
Chaitanya's Life And Teachings|Krishna das Kaviraja
Common gratitude would have bound the Pawnee to his preserver for life.
Footprints in the Forest|Edward Sylvester Ellis

This man, who is so indifferent to danger for himself, is ready to die with anxiety for the safety of his preserver!
Quintus Claudius, Volume 2 of 2|Ernst Eckstein
Nan turned eyes still full of horror on Jack's preserver, while Jack herself held out her hand.
The Four Corners in Japan|Amy Ella Blanchard

British Dictionary definitions for preserver

preserve

/ (prɪˈzɜːv) /

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 Forms

preservable, adjectivepreservability, nounpreservably, adverbpreservation (ˌprɛzəˈveɪʃən), noun

preserver, 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 preserver

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.

preserve

"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.

preserve

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

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

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of preserve

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for preserver

preserve

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for preserve

preserve

preserve