Definition of the word preserve

Verb



The fossil was well preserved.



These laws are intended to help preserve our natural resources.



They are fighting to preserve their rights as citizens.



The peaches are preserved in syrup.



Salt can be used to preserve meat.

Noun



a jar of strawberry preserve



Game preserves allow only carefully controlled hunting and fishing.



The military was once an all-male preserve.

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Recent Examples on the Web



Guerlain Abeille Royale Anti-Aging Double R Advanced Serum $175 at Sephora$175 at Nordstrom$240 at Saks Fifth Avenue Guerlain’s dedication to the bees—both preserving the population and harnessing the powerful anti-aging benefits found in their honey—continues with their latest launch.


Erica Smith, ELLE, 5 Apr. 2023





Milner extracts the critters and their twiggy sludge, then preserves and bags them.


Lesley Evans Ogden, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2023





Founded in 1965, the archive collects, preserves and restores, screens, loans, and licenses archival moving images.


Julia Chan, CNN, 3 Apr. 2023





Still impeccably preserved today, up close the dress, with its tiny waist and dimensions, is a striking reminder of just how petite our late monarch was; unimpeachable, beautiful and unquestionably feminine.


Dr. Tessa Dunlop, Town & Country, 2 Apr. 2023





Attorneys for the preservation group said Findley told his lawyer to develop a will to preserve and maintain the Luther.


Scott Huddleston, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Mar. 2023





Its historic character is preserved in its chandeliers, intricately designed tin ceilings and marble staircases.


Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2023





Under the guidance of new artistic director Michael Novak, the company is striking a balance between preserving Taylor’s landmark works and finding new things to say.


oregonlive, 29 Mar. 2023





As part of the partnership, Headspace is donating $150,000 to the National Parks Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and protecting national parks.


Eve Chen, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2023




Of course, nature plays a central role in Sendero’s décor; Each accommodation has an outdoor shower overlooking a neighboring 11-acre preserve.


Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 13 Feb. 2023





Borderlands works to restore watersheds in the Madrean Archipelago, or sky islands, a group of isolated mountain ranges, and helps manage a wildlife preserve near Patagonia.


Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2022





For Bianco, the necessary role of fiction was to act as a mental preserve for the once-wild faculty of the imagination, whose domestication is a bittersweet but essential condition of adulthood.


Vulture, 8 Nov. 2022





The current owners, Homer and Linda Gomez, developed the ranch as a hunting preserve for quail, deer and exotic animals.


Dallas News, 17 June 2022





Owing to the prices, Cucinelli has long been the preserve of the wealthy and connoisseurs.


Jon Caramanica, Town & Country, 28 Feb. 2023





East Africa has traditionally been the preserve of al-Shabab.


Katharine Houreld, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Feb. 2023





For years, too-long trousers that bunch up over shoelaces have been the preserve of men who don’t give two hoots about fashion.


Ashley Ogawa Clarke, WSJ, 6 Jan. 2023





Blumenthal said Congress will have to appropriate money at a later date to pay for conversation to a preserve.


Hartford Courant, 30 Dec. 2022



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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘preserve.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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  • British

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.

This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.


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.

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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”

synonym study for preserve

OTHER WORDS FROM preserve

pre·serv·a·ble, adjectivepre·serv·a·bil·i·ty [pri-zur-vuhbil-i-tee], /prɪˌzɜr vəˈbɪl ɪ ti/, nounpres·er·va·tion [prez-er-vey-shuhn], /ˌprɛz ərˈveɪ ʃən/, nounpre·serv·er, noun

non·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectiveun·pre·serv·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby preserve

present tense, present value, preservation, preservationist, preservative, preserve, preserved, preset, preset board, preshave, preshrink

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to preserve

conserve, defend, freeze, keep, perpetuate, protect, retain, safeguard, save, secure, store, sustain, uphold, bottle, can, cure, evaporate, guard, mothball, mummify

How to use preserve in a sentence

  • He even went so far as trying, unsuccessfully, to turn a significant section of Southeast Alaska into a brown bear preserve.

  • The study of extreme market failures—shutdowns due to war, for example—has generally been the preserve of the former discipline, but the pandemic has forced the wider economics profession to switch focus.

  • That’s the preserve of newer, more powerful types of software called neural networks, complex artificial intelligence programs designed to mimic the computational processes of the human brain.

  • Upcoming developments, however, aren’t only the preserve of the HR team.

  • Closed to the public for decades as a private ranch, the 880-acre nature preserve has 11 miles of quality multi-use singletrack that traverses woodlands and coastal ridgelines, allowing the adventure hungry to spread out into new terrain.

  • Or bold stands that may not preserve our security today or tomorrow, but keep our principles safely intact?

  • These cases demonstrate how governments struggle to preserve historic sites.

  • Why do they sincerely try to restore, or preserve, the line between the two, and get heartbroken when the line fails?

  • It was captioned Preserve Your Forests From Destruction And Protect Your Country From Floods And Drought.

  • Advocates claimed that it helped to preserve virtue and to affirm the application of Sharia law.

  • She is skilful in seizing salient characteristics, and her chief aim is to preserve the individuality of her sitters and models.

  • If properly dried and pressed, it is possible to preserve the Fern fronds with a great deal of their natural colour.

  • The new Government to preserve public order and check all reprisals against the Spaniards.

  • To accept so much and still preserve one’s self-respect would be impossible to ordinary men under ordinary circumstances.

  • Those required to sustain life and preserve decency, besides other things to maintain her in her social condition.

British Dictionary definitions for preserve


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 of preserve

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

заповедник, варенье, сохранять, хранить, впрок

существительное

- обыкн. варенье; презервы; консервы
- охотничий или рыболовный заповедник
- что-л. предназначенное для ограниченного круга людей

this subject is his private preserve — в этом деле он первый знаток

- pl. защитные очки

глагол

- сохранять, оберегать

to preserve peace — сохранять мир
to preserve one’s eyesight — беречь зрение
to preserve smb. from harm — оберегать кого-л. от беды
God preserve us! — упаси нас, господи!, боже упаси!

- хранить, поддерживать

to preserve silence — хранить молчание
to preserve old customs — хранить старинные обычаи
to preserve family traditions — хранить /поддерживать/ семейные традиции
to preserve discipline — поддерживать дисциплину

- хранить (фрукты, овощи и т. п.)
- заготавливать впрок; варить варенье; презервировать; консервировать (особ. фрукты и овощи)
- хранить, копить

she preserves all pins which she picks up — она хранит все булавки, которые подбирает

- охранять (от браконьеров)
- разводить (животных, птиц, рыбу в заповеднике)

Мои примеры

Словосочетания

a subtance that helps preserve wood — субстанция, которая способствует сохранению древесины  
to preserve the blood — консервировать кровь  
to preserve / protect the environment — охранять окружающую среду  
forest preserve — лесной заповедник  
game preserve, wild-life preserve — охотничий заповедник, охотничье угодье  
to keep / maintain / preserve one’s sanity — сохранять рассудок, оставаться в здравом уме  
to maintain / preserve the status quo — сохранять статус-кво  
to maintain / preserve / uphold a tradition — поддерживать, хранить традицию  
game preserve — охотничий заповедник, охотничье угодье  
to preserve a right — сохранять право  
preserve peace — поддерживать мир; отстаивать мир; сохранять мир  

Примеры с переводом

Preserve the peace in the family.

Сохраняйте мир в семье.

God favour and preserve him.

Беже, спаси и сохрани его.

God preserve me from such a fate!

Храни меня Господь от такого!

The fossil was well preserved.

Ископаемое хорошо сохранилось.

These fine old houses should be preserved for the future.

Эти красивые старые дома надо сохранить для будущих поколений.

Salt can be used to preserve meat.

Соль можно использовать для консервации впрок мяса.

Putting varnish on wood is a way to preserve it.

Покрытие дерева лаком — способ сохранить его.

ещё 23 примера свернуть

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

The mud helped to preserve and fossilize the wood.

The oil is used to soften and preserve the leather.

…an encasement of several inches of silt had helped to preserve the sunken remains of the historic ship…

Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке , напротив примера.

Возможные однокоренные слова

preserved  — консервированный
preserving  — консервирование
preserves  — консервы, защитные очки
preserver  — спаситель, избавитель, сторож в охотничьем заповеднике

Формы слова

verb
I/you/we/they: preserve
he/she/it: preserves
ing ф. (present participle): preserving
2-я ф. (past tense): preserved
3-я ф. (past participle): preserved

noun
ед. ч.(singular): preserve
мн. ч.(plural): preserves

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • præserve (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English preserven, from Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin prēservāre (keep, preserve),[1] from Late Latin praeservāre (guard beforehand), from prae (before, adverb) +‎ servāre (maintain, keep).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɹəˈzɜːv/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /pɹəˈzɝv/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v

Noun[edit]

preserve (countable and uncountable, plural preserves)

  1. A sweet spread made of any of a variety of fruits.
  2. A reservation, a nature preserve.
    • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:
      Suppose Shakespeare had been knocked on the head some dark night in Sir Thomas Lucy’s preserves, the world would have wagged on better or worse, the pitcher gone to the well, the scythe to the corn, and the student to his book; and no one been any the wiser of the loss.
  3. An activity with restricted access.
    • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

      The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.

Usage notes[edit]

More often used in the plural, as strawberry preserves, but the form without the -s can also be used as the plural form, or to refer to a single type.

Synonyms[edit]

  • jam
  • jelly
  • marmalade

Translations[edit]

sweet spread

  • Arabic: مُرَبًّى‎ m (murabban)
  • Bashkir: ҡайнатма (qaynatma), варенье (varen’ye)
  • Bulgarian: сладко (bg) n (sladko)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 果醬果酱 (zh) (guǒjiàng)
  • Finnish: marmeladi (fi), hillo (fi)
  • French: confiture (fr) f, conserve (fr) f
  • German: Konserve (de) f, Eingemachtes (de) n
  • Greek:
    Ancient: μελίμηλον n (melímēlon)
  • Japanese: ジャム (ja) (jamu), プレザーブ (purezābu)
  • Korean:  (ko) (jaem)
  • Macedonian: сла́тко n (slátko)
  • Polish: przetwór (pl) m
  • Russian: варе́нье (ru) n (varénʹje)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: сла̀тко̄ n
    Roman: slatko (sh) n
  • Spanish: mermelada (es) f
  • Swedish: sylt (sv) c, marmelad (sv) c, konserverad frukt c
  • Ukrainian: варе́ння (uk) (varénnja)

activity with restricted access

See also[edit]

  • preserver

Verb[edit]

preserve (third-person singular simple present preserves, present participle preserving, simple past and past participle preserved)

  1. To protect; to keep from harm or injury.

    Every people have the right to preserve its identity and culture.

    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

      When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like / The bragging Spaniard.

  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.
    to preserve peaches or grapes
  3. To maintain throughout; to keep intact.
    to preserve appearances; to preserve silence

Translations[edit]

to protect

  • Arabic: حَافَظَ(ḥāfaẓa)
  • Armenian: պահպանել (hy) (pahpanel)
  • Azerbaijani: qoruyub-saxlamaq
  • Bashkir: һаҡлау (haqlaw)/һаҡтау (haqtaw)
  • Bulgarian: предпазвам (bg) (predpazvam), охранявам (bg) (ohranjavam)
  • Catalan: preservar (ca)
  • Cherokee: please add this translation if you can
  • Czech: chránit (cs)
  • Danish: please add this translation if you can
  • Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
  • Dutch: beschermen (nl)
  • Estonian: säilitama (et)
  • Finnish: säilyttää (fi), suojella (fi), suojata (fi), pitää (fi), turvata (fi)
  • French: préserver (fr)
  • Galician: preservar (gl)
  • German: erhalten (de), bewahren (de)
  • Haitian Creole: konsève
  • Ido: prezervar (io), konservar (io)
  • Irish: caomhnaigh, coinnigh
  • Italian: preservare (it), proteggere (it), salvaguardare (it)
  • Khmer: គាំពារ (km) (koam pie), អភិរក្ស (a’pʰi’reak)
  • Latin: conservo (la), tueor
  • Macedonian: за́штити (záštiti)
  • Mirandese: preserbar
  • Occitan: preservar (oc)
  • Polabian: ai̯băroi̯
  • Polish: zachować (pl)
  • Portuguese: preservar (pt)
  • Romanian: proteja (ro)
  • Russian: защища́ть (ru) impf (zaščiščátʹ), защити́ть (ru) pf (zaščitítʹ), оберега́ть (ru) impf (oberegátʹ), обере́чь (ru) pf (oberéčʹ), охраня́ть (ru) impf (oxranjátʹ), охрани́ть (ru) pf (oxranítʹ)
  • Sanskrit: पाति (sa) (pāti)
  • Scottish Gaelic: dìon
  • Sicilian: prisirvari
  • Spanish: preservar (es)
  • Swedish: bevara (sv)
  • Turkish: korumak (tr), muhafaza etmek (tr)
  • Ukrainian: захища́ти (zaxyščáty), оберіга́ти (oberiháty), охороня́ти (oxoronjáty)
  • Welsh: cadw (cy)

to keep; to maintain the condition of

  • Bashkir: һаҡлау (haqlaw)/һаҡтау (haqtaw)
  • Bulgarian: пазя (bg) (pazja), спазвам (bg) (spazvam)
  • Catalan: conservar (ca)
  • Czech: uchovat, uchovávat
  • Dutch: bewaren (nl), in stand houden
  • Finnish: pitää (fi), ylläpitää (fi), säilyttää (fi)
  • French: conserver (fr)
  • German: bewahren (de), aufrechterhalten (de)
  • Ido: konservar (io)
  • Irish: leasaigh
  • Italian: preservare (it)
  • Khmer: រក្សា (km) (reaksaa)
  • Latin: tueor
  • Macedonian: за́чува (záčuva)
  • Portuguese: conservar (pt)
  • Romanian: întreține (ro)
  • Russian: сохраня́ть (ru) impf (soxranjátʹ), сохрани́ть (ru) pf (soxranítʹ)
  • Sanskrit: धरति (sa) (dharati)
  • Scottish Gaelic: (food) saill
  • Spanish: conservar (es)
  • Turkish: devam ettirmek (tr), muhafaza etmek (tr), sürdürmek (tr)
  • Ukrainian: зберіга́ти (zberiháty), зберегти́ (zberehtý)
  • Welsh: cyffeithio (cy) (literary), preserfio

References[edit]

  1. ^ “prēserven, v..”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 26 February 2020.

Anagrams[edit]

  • persever, perverse

Portuguese[edit]

Verb[edit]

preserve

  1. inflection of preservar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

preserve

  1. inflection of preservar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Other forms: preserved; preserving; preserves

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.

Definitions of preserve

  1. verb

    keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction

    “We
    preserve these archeological findings”

    synonyms:

    conserve, keep up, maintain

  2. verb

    maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger

    synonyms:

    keep

    keep

    look after; be the keeper of; have charge of

  3. verb

    keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last

    preserve the peace in the family”

    synonyms:

    bear on, carry on, continue, uphold

    continue, go forward, proceed

    move ahead; travel onward in time or space

    continue, go along, go on, keep, proceed

    continue a certain state, condition, or activity

    see moresee less

    Antonyms:

    cease, discontinue, give up, lay off, quit, stop

    put an end to a state or an activity

    types:

    show 11 types…
    hide 11 types…
    re-start, restart, resume

    take up or begin anew

    hang in, hang on, hold on, persevere, persist

    be persistent, refuse to stop

    perpetuate

    cause to continue or prevail

    keep up, prolong, sustain

    lengthen or extend in duration or space

    mummify

    preserve while making lifeless

    obstinate

    persist stubbornly

    ask for it, ask for trouble

    persist with actions or an attitude despite the probability that it will cause trouble

    plug, plug away

    persist in working hard

    follow, stick to, stick with

    keep to

    continue, keep, keep on, retain

    allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature

    eternize

    cause to continue indefinitely

    type of:

    hold, keep, maintain

    keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., «keep clean»

  4. verb

    prevent (food) from rotting

    preserved meats”

    synonyms:

    keep

    keep, stay fresh

    fail to spoil or rot

    see moresee less

    types:

    show 11 types…
    hide 11 types…
    freeze-dry

    preserve by rapid freezing and subsequently drying in a vacuum

    conserve

    preserve with sugar

    dehydrate, desiccate

    preserve by removing all water and liquids from

    pickle

    preserve in a pickling liquid

    salt

    preserve with salt

    can, put up, tin

    preserve in a can or tin

    refrigerate

    preserve by chilling

    cure

    prepare by drying, salting, or chemical processing in order to preserve

    corn

    preserve with salt

    lyophilise, lyophilize

    to dry (blood, serum, or tissue) by freezing in a high vacuum

    dun

    cure by salting

    type of:

    cook, fix, make, prepare, ready

    prepare for eating by applying heat

  5. verb

    to keep up and reserve for personal or special use

    synonyms:

    save

    see moresee less

    types:

    show 25 types…
    hide 25 types…
    enter, put down, record

    make a record of; set down in permanent form

    conserve, economise, economize, husband

    use cautiously and frugally

    chalk up, tally

    keep score, as in games

    clock in, clock on, punch in

    register one’s arrival at work

    record, tape

    register electronically

    accession

    make a record of additions to a collection, such as a library

    post

    display, as of records in sports games

    ring up

    to perform and record a sale on a cash register

    manifest

    record in a ship’s manifest

    inscribe

    write, engrave, or print as a lasting record

    chronicle

    record in chronological order; make a historical record

    file, file away

    place in a container for keeping records

    document

    record in detail

    log

    enter into a log, as on ships and planes

    clock up, log up

    record a distance travelled; on planes and cars

    film, shoot, take

    make a film or photograph of something

    tape, videotape

    record on videotape

    photograph, shoot, snap

    record on photographic film

    mark, score

    make underscoring marks

    notch

    notch a surface to record something

    keep, maintain

    maintain by writing regular records

    film

    record in film

    retrench

    tighten one’s belt; use resources carefully

    register

    record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions

    book

    record a charge in a police register

    type of:

    hold on, keep

    retain possession of

  6. verb

    keep undisturbed for personal or private use for hunting, shooting, or fishing

    preserve the forest and the lakes”

  7. noun

    fruit preserved by cooking with sugar

  8. noun

    a domain that seems to be specially reserved for someone

    “medicine is no longer a male
    preserve

  9. noun

    a reservation where animals are protected

DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘preserve’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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