Advertisement

Origin and history of preserve

preserve(v.)

late 14c., preserven, "keep safe or free from harm," also "act so as to insure that something does not occur," from Anglo-French preservare, Old French preserver, Medieval Latin preservare "keep, preserve," all from Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + servare "to keep safe" (from PIE root *ser- (1) "to protect").

From early 15c. as "maintain, keep in a certain quality, state or condition." Of fruit, etc., "prevent from spoiling by use of preservative substances," 1570s; of organic bodies, "keep in existence or alive," from 1610s. Related: Preserved; preserver; preserving.

preserve(n.)

"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. The verb preserve in the sense of "maintain and reserve for special use in hunting or fishing" is from 1610s.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to preserve

preservation(n.)

early 15c., preservacioun "protection from disease," from Old French preservacion (13c.), from Medieval Latin preservationem (nominative preservatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of preservare "to guard beforehand" (see preserve (v.)). General sense of "protection, act of keeping safe or sound" is from mid-15c.

preservative(adj.)

late 14c., preservatif, "tending to keep safe, sound, or free from harm," from Old French preservatif and directly from Medieval Latin praeservativus, from stem of Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand" (see preserve (v.)).

The noun is from early 15c., "a preservative medication; substance that preserves corpses," also generally "anything that preserves or maintains." The sense of "chemical added to foods to keep them from rotting" is from 1875.

Advertisement

More to explore

continue
mid-14c., contynuen, "maintain, sustain, preserve;" late 14c., "go forward or onward; persevere in," from Old French continuer (13c.) and directly from Latin continuare "join together in uninterrupted succession, make or be continuous, do successively one after another," from con
carry on
1640s, "continue to advance," also "manage, be engaged in," from carry (v.) + on (adv.). The meaning "conduct oneself in a wild and thoughtless manner" is by 1828. Carryings-on is from 1660s as "questionable doings," from 1866 as "riotous behavior." As an adjective, carry-on, in
keep
Middle English kēpen, from late Old English cepan (past tense cepte) "to seize, hold; seek after, desire," also "to observe or carry out in practice; look out for, regard, pay attention to," from Proto-Germanic *kopjan, which is of uncertain origin. Old English cepan was used c.
Masoretic
Masora (also Massorah), "the tradition by which Jewish scholars endeavor to fix the correct text of the Old Testament and preserve...it from corruption," also "a book or marginal notes which preserve the results of the effort," from Hebrew, literally "tradition...
conserve
"to keep safe, preserve from loss or decay," late 14c., from Old French conserver (9c.), from Latin conservare "to keep,...preserve, keep intact, guard," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + servare "keep...
creosote
Greek kreo-, combining form of kreas "flesh" (from PIE root *kreue- "raw flesh") + soter "preserver," from soizein "save, preserve...So called because it was used as an antiseptic and to preserve meat....
condiment
give relish to food," from Old French condiment (13c.), from Latin condimentum "spice, seasoning, sauce," from condire "to preserve..."to season, prepare or preserve with salt, spices, sugar, etc."...
last
c. 1200, "latest, final, following all others," a contraction of Old English latost (adj.) "slowest, latest," superlative of læt (see late); in some uses from late (adv.). Cognate with Old Frisian lest, Dutch laatst, Old High German laggost, German letzt. Meaning "last in space,
salt
Old English sealt "salt, sodium chloride, abundant substance essential to life, used as a condiment and meat preservative," from Proto-Germanic *saltom (source also of Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Gothic salt, Dutch zout, German Salz), from PIE root *sal- "salt." Applied fr
slat
late 14c., earlier sclat (c. 1300), "a roofing slate; a thin, flat stone," from Old French esclat "split piece, chip, splinter" (Modern French éclat), a back-formation from esclater "to break, splinter, burst," which probably is from Frankish *slaitan "to tear, slit" or some othe

Share preserve

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near preserve
Advertisement