Conservatism

How to spell conservatism

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce conservatism

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conservatism mean?

1. nounA political and social outlook that favours preserving established traditions, institutions, and gradual rather than radical change.

Conservatism in a sentence

• The candidate's conservatism appealed to voters who distrusted sudden reform.

• Economic conservatism shaped the government's cautious approach to public spending.

Where does conservatism come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb conservare, which meant 'to keep safe, guard, or preserve', built from the intensive prefix con- and servare 'to keep or watch over'. English already had the verb 'conserve' by the late 1300s, borrowed through Old French from that same Latin source, and the noun 'conservative' followed to describe someone inclined to preserve existing arrangements. The abstract noun 'conservatism' is a much later addition, coined in English in the early nineteenth century by attaching the doctrine-forming suffix -ism, and it gained sharp political meaning after the Tory party rebranded itself as Conservative in the 1830s. The underlying servare root is surprisingly productive, surfacing in everyday relatives such as 'preserve', 'reserve', and 'observe'. For spelling, it helps to remember that the heart of the word is plain 'conserve' with '-atism' tacked on, so the troublesome middle is just the unstressed -va- you hear faintly when you say it.

How the word is built

• con- (together, thoroughly)
• serv (from Latin servare: to keep, guard, preserve)
• -at- (forming the verb stem)
• -ism (doctrine, belief system)