# preserve

Pronunciation: say "pri-ZURV" US /pɹəˈzɝv/, UK /pɹəˈzɜːv/

## Verb

1. To protect someone or something and keep it from harm or injury.
   - Simple: To keep someone or something safe from harm or damage.
   - _The new law aims to preserve endangered species from extinction._
   - _Soldiers fought to preserve their homeland's independence._
2. To maintain something in its original state throughout time and keep it intact.
   - Simple: To keep something the same over time, without letting it change or break.
   - _The treaty was designed to preserve the existing borders._
   - _Museums preserve the cultural traditions of past generations._
3. To save food from decay using a substance such as sugar or salt, and to season and prepare fruits or meat for storage.
   - Simple: To stop food from going bad by adding something like salt or sugar.
   - _Early settlers would preserve meat by salting and smoking it._
   - _She preserves tomatoes from her garden in glass jars each fall._

## Noun

4. A sweet spread made from one or more kinds of fruit cooked with sugar.
   - Simple: A sweet, thick food made from fruit and sugar, spread on bread.
   - _He topped his scone with a generous spoonful of apricot preserve._
   - _The market stall offered fig preserve made that very morning._
5. A tract of land set aside to protect its wildlife and natural features.
   - Simple: An area of land kept safe so wild plants and animals can live there.
   - _The new preserve protects thousands of acres of coastal wetland._
   - _Rangers patrol the preserve to prevent illegal hunting._
6. An area of activity or interest that is restricted to a particular person or group.
   - Simple: Something that only one group of people is allowed to do or take part in.
   - _Higher education was once the preserve of the privileged few._
   - _Writing code is no longer the preserve of large technology companies._

## Origin

From Middle English preserven, borrowed from Old French preserver, which came from Medieval Latin prēservāre ("to keep, preserve") and Late Latin praeservāre ("to guard beforehand"). This was formed from prae ("before") plus servāre ("to maintain, keep").

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