preserve

UK/pɹəˈzɜːv/US/pɹəˈzɝv/

verbB25 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,474 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: preserved, preserving, preserves

To preserve something is to keep it as it is and stop damage, rot or time from getting at it. A cathedral preserved after a fire, letters preserved in a shoebox under the bed, lemons preserved in salt in a jar on the windowsill.

Food is the oldest use: salt, sugar, vinegar, smoke and cold all preserve, and the noun preserves means jars of jam and pickle. The abstract half is just as common — preserve the peace, preserve her dignity, preserve the right to appeal. Preserve is not quite conserve: you conserve something by using less of it (conserve water, conserve your energy), and you preserve something by protecting it from harm. As a noun it also names an activity that belongs to one group alone — the preserve of specialists — and, in American English, a stretch of land where wildlife is left in peace. The word on the label is preservative: what is added to stop the food going off.

Definitions of preserve

1verbpreserveTo keep something safe and unchanged.B2
“The dry air preserved the paintings for centuries.”
- Said"We want to preserve the old kitchen exactly as it is, cracks and all."
- WrittenThe recipes were preserved in her handwriting on the backs of envelopes, and nobody dared retype them.
- UsedPreserve the original tiles by cleaning them with water only, never acid.
- ContrastPreserve, not keep. You keep a thing by not throwing it away; you preserve it by making sure it never changes. keep →
- Not thisPreserving fruit in jars is another meaning. This preserve is about protecting something from time.
- HeadlineVillage votes to preserve Victorian market hall
- SimplyWe preserve the old house. It stays the same.
Patternpreserve + noun (a building, a tradition, evidence) · well preserved · preservation · preservative
synonyms: protect, maintain
2verbtreatTo treat food so that it does not go bad.B2
“She preserves plums in syrup every August.”
- Said"We preserve our own tomatoes every summer — the cupboard's full of them."
- WrittenThe fish was preserved in oil, the way her grandfather had always done it.
- UsedPreserve the fruit while it is fresh, in clean dry jars.
- ContrastPreserve, not keep. You keep food in the fridge for days; you preserve it to last for months. keep →
- SimplySalt stops meat going bad. Salt preserves it.
Patternpreserve + noun (fruit, fish, meat) · preserve sth in salt / sugar / vinegar · preserves (= jam)
3nounjamJam or a similar food made by cooking fruit with sugar.B2
“A jar of apricot preserve sat on the table.”
4nounactivityAn activity or area that belongs to one group alone.C1
“Long-distance sailing was once the preserve of the very rich.”
5nounlandAn area of land where wildlife is protected.B2
“Hunting is banned inside the preserve.”

Also accepted in games: conserve

Remember it

preSERVE → keep the summer to SERVE in winter

Put the summer's fruit into jars with sugar, close them tight, and serve it in the middle of winter: you have preserved it.

hooks ontoserve

Also practised as

verbTo treat food so that it does not go bad.

Where it comes from

Preserve came through Old French preserver from Latin praeservāre, 'to guard beforehand' — prae, 'before', joined to servāre, from a root meaning to guard or keep. The point is the timing: you do not repair the thing, you stand watch over it in advance. It pushed out the older English verb nerian, which meant to save.

Proto-Indo-European
*ser- (guard)
Old French
preserver
Middle English
preserven
English, today
preserve

Built from

prēservāre · Latin — keep, preserve
praeservāre · Latin — guard beforehand

From Middle English preserven, from Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin - prēservāre (“keep, preserve”), from Latin - praeservāre (“guard beforehand”), from prae + servāre. Displaced native Old English nerian.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of preserve

1verbpreserveTo keep something safe and unchanged.B2

“The dry air preserved the paintings for centuries.”

Said"We want to preserve the old kitchen exactly as it is, cracks and all."
WrittenThe recipes were preserved in her handwriting on the backs of envelopes, and nobody dared retype them.
UsedPreserve the original tiles by cleaning them with water only, never acid.
ContrastPreserve, not keep. You keep a thing by not throwing it away; you preserve it by making sure it never changes. keep →
Not thisPreserving fruit in jars is another meaning. This preserve is about protecting something from time.
HeadlineVillage votes to preserve Victorian market hall
SimplyWe preserve the old house. It stays the same.

Patternpreserve + noun (a building, a tradition, evidence) · well preserved · preservation · preservative

synonyms: protect, maintain

2verbtreatTo treat food so that it does not go bad.B2

“She preserves plums in syrup every August.”

Said"We preserve our own tomatoes every summer — the cupboard's full of them."
WrittenThe fish was preserved in oil, the way her grandfather had always done it.
UsedPreserve the fruit while it is fresh, in clean dry jars.
ContrastPreserve, not keep. You keep food in the fridge for days; you preserve it to last for months. keep →
SimplySalt stops meat going bad. Salt preserves it.

Patternpreserve + noun (fruit, fish, meat) · preserve sth in salt / sugar / vinegar · preserves (= jam)

3nounjamJam or a similar food made by cooking fruit with sugar.B2

“A jar of apricot preserve sat on the table.”

4nounactivityAn activity or area that belongs to one group alone.C1

“Long-distance sailing was once the preserve of the very rich.”

5nounlandAn area of land where wildlife is protected.B2

“Hunting is banned inside the preserve.”

Also accepted in games: conserve