English Explanatory Dictionary

preserve

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A sweet spread made of any of a variety of fruits.
  2. A reservation, a nature preserve.
  3. An exclusive area of activity.
verb
  1. To protect; to keep from harm or injury.
  2. To save from decay by the use of some preservative substance, such as sugar or salt; to season and prepare (fruits, meat, etc.) for storage.
  3. To maintain throughout; to keep intact.

Pronunciation

/pɹəˈzɜːv/ /pɹəˈzɝv/ en-us-preserve.ogg

Word forms

preserve preserves præserve preserving preserved

Etymology

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

Synonyms

jam jelly marmalade conserve

Related words

preserver

Derived words

game preserve natural preserve shooting preserve biopreserved cryopreserve God preserve us lyopreserve mispreserve nonpreserved preservability preservable preservation preserving glass preservingly preserving pan unpreserved

Translations

French: domaine réservé Polish: domena Spanish: coto Spanish: terreno Spanish: dominio
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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