preservation

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
preserve/prɪˈzɜːv/

▶verb

• 1 maintain in its original or existing state.

  ■ keep alive (a memory or quality).

• 2 keep safe from harm or injury.

• 3 treat (food) to prevent its decomposition.

  ■ prepare (fruit) for long-term storage by boiling it with sugar.

▶noun

• 1 a foodstuff made with fruit preserved in sugar.

• 2 something regarded as reserved for a particular person or group.

• 3 chiefly N. Amer. a place where game is protected and kept for private hunting or shooting.

– derivatives
preservable adjective,
preservation noun,
preserver noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. preserver, from late L. praeservare, from prae- ‘before, in advance’ + servare ‘to keep’.