# conservation

Pronunciation: US say "kahn-ser-VAY-shuhn" /ˌkɑnsə(ɹ)ˈveɪʃən/; UK say "kon-suh-VAY-shuhn" /ˌkɒnsəˈveɪʃən/

## Noun

1. The careful and wise use of natural resources to avoid waste and keep them available for the future.
   - Simple: The careful use of natural resources so they are not wasted.
   - _The new policy rewards farmers who practice soil and water conservation._
   - _Conservation of forests depends on balancing local jobs with long-term needs._
2. The field of study and practice devoted to protecting biodiversity, the environment, and natural resources.
   - Simple: The study and work of protecting nature, wild animals, and natural resources.
   - _Conservation has grown into a major area of study at many universities._
   - _Modern conservation combines fieldwork with genetics and public policy._
3. The act of preserving, guarding, or protecting something, keeping it safe and whole.
   - Simple: The act of keeping something safe and in good condition.
   - _The conservation of the fragile manuscript required a temperature-controlled room._
   - _Careful conservation of the documents protected them from damp and decay._
4. The protection and care of cultural heritage, including artwork, architecture, and historical or archaeological objects.
   - Simple: The careful work of protecting old art, buildings, and historical objects.
   - _The conservation of the medieval frescoes took a decade of patient work._
   - _Art conservation balances repair with respect for the original materials._
5. The fact that a measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change over time, such as energy, mass, or momentum.
   - Simple: When an amount in a closed system stays the same and does not change.
   - _Conservation of momentum lets physicists predict the motion after a collision._
   - _In any truly isolated system, conservation of energy holds exactly._
6. The persistence of genes or traits that remain largely unchanged by evolution, appearing as similar DNA sequences or proteins in species sharing a common ancestor.
   - Simple: When genes stay nearly the same in different species over millions of years.
   - _Sequence conservation between yeast and humans points to a shared ancestor._
   - _High conservation of a gene often signals an essential biological function._

## Origin

From Old French; by surface analysis it breaks down into "conserve" plus the suffix "-ation".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/conservation (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).