# reservation

Pronunciation: US say "rez-er-VAY-shuhn" /ˌɹɛzɚˈveɪʃən/; UK say "rez-uh-VAY-shuhn" /ˌɹɛzəˈveɪʃən/

## Noun

1. An arrangement that secures a room, table, seat, or other accommodation or transport in advance.
   - Simple: A booking that holds a room, table, or seat for you ahead of time.
   - _I called ahead to confirm our reservation at the seaside hotel._
   - _Online booking makes reservations far easier than phoning each venue._
2. A tract of land set apart by the US government for the use of a Native American people. *(US)*
   - Simple: An area of land that the US government set aside for a Native American nation to live on and govern.
   - _The reservation covers several million acres of high desert._
   - _Federal law governs hunting and fishing rights across many reservations._
3. A doubt or concern that qualifies one's certainty or willingness to commit.
   - Simple: A doubt or worry that keeps you from fully agreeing or feeling sure.
   - _The committee approved the proposal with reservations about its cost._
   - _He accepted the offer without a single reservation._
4. The act of holding something back or keeping it in reserve rather than giving it up.
   - Simple: The act of holding something back instead of giving or using it.
   - _The contract included the reservation of mineral rights by the seller._
   - _His careful reservation of resources kept the company solvent through the slump._
5. A thing that is withheld or kept back from what is granted or transferred.
   - Simple: Something that a person holds back instead of giving away.
   - _The deed contained a reservation allowing the family continued access to the well._
   - _Among the seller's reservations was the right to use the driveway._
6. The central strip separating opposing lanes of traffic on a divided road. *(UK)*
   - Simple: The strip of land in the middle of a big road that keeps the two directions of traffic apart.
   - _The lorry veered across the reservation and onto the opposite carriageway._
   - _Crash barriers run the length of the reservation on most motorways._
7. The setting aside of a fixed percentage of places in government institutions for members of underrepresented communities defined mainly by caste and tribe. *(India)*
   - Simple: A system that keeps a set share of government jobs and college places for people from disadvantaged caste and tribal groups.
   - _Debates over reservation in higher education resurface every election season._
   - _The policy extended reservation to a newly recognized category of backward communities._
8. An overseeing authority's power to suspend legislation in the jurisdiction it oversees, pending approval by a higher authority.
   - Simple: An official's power to hold back a region's new law until a higher government approves it.
   - _The governor exercised reservation, sending the controversial bill to the president for approval._
   - _Under colonial rule, reservation let the viceroy refer bills to the crown._
9. In Christian churches, the practice of setting aside part of the consecrated Eucharistic bread so it can be given to the sick.
   - Simple: The practice of keeping part of the blessed communion bread so it can be given later to people who are sick.
   - _The reservation of the sacrament is kept in a tabernacle near the altar._
   - _Church rules govern the reservation of the consecrated bread for the sick._
10. The act by which the pope reserves to himself the right to nominate to certain church benefices.
   - Simple: The act of the pope keeping for himself the right to choose who fills certain church posts.
   - _Papal reservation of major benefices grew common in the fourteenth century._
   - _The reservation of the abbey's leadership to Rome reduced the chapter's influence._

## Origin

From Middle French "reservation," equivalent to "reserve" plus the suffix "-ation."

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