# preservation

Pronunciation: US say "prez-ur-VAY-shuhn" /ˌpɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/; say "prez-uh-VAY-shuhn" UK /ˌpɹɛz.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, AUS /ˌpɹez.əˈvæɪ.ʃən/

## Noun

1. The act of keeping something from destruction, decay, or harm, including the care taken to maintain it.
   - Simple: The work of keeping something safe so it is not damaged, lost, or spoiled.
   - _The preservation of historical records depends on stable temperature and low humidity._
   - _Wildlife preservation requires protecting both the animals and the habitats they depend on._
2. The condition in which something has survived, considered as how intact or unspoiled it remains.
   - Simple: How well something has stayed whole and undamaged over time.
   - _The manuscript's remarkable preservation allowed scholars to read nearly every line._
   - _Despite the shipwreck, the cargo's state of preservation surprised the divers._

## Origin

From Old French preservacion, from Medieval Latin preservatio; morphologically 'preserve' plus '-ation'.

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