Conservative

How to spell conservative

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce conservative

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conservative mean?

1. adjectiveDisposed to preserve existing conditions and to favour caution over risk or change.
2. nounA person who favours traditional values and opposes rapid political change.

Conservative in a sentence

• adjective

  The fund manager took a conservative approach and avoided risky stocks.

• noun

  As a lifelong conservative, she distrusted sudden reforms.

• adjective

  His conservative estimate of the repair cost turned out to be too low.

• noun

  The debate pitted a conservative against a reformer.

Where does conservative come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb servare, which meant 'to keep safe', 'to guard', or 'to preserve'. With the intensifying prefix con-, the late Latin form conservare meant 'to keep thoroughly' or 'to protect', and from it came conservativus, 'tending to preserve'. English took the word through Old French in the late 1300s, at first carrying the plain sense of something that conserves or maintains. The modern flavour of being cautious, traditional, and resistant to change grew in the 1700s and 1800s, and the capitalised political party meaning was firmly fixed in Britain by the 1830s. The same servare root quietly survives in close relatives such as 'preserve', 'reserve', and 'conserve', which is a handy reminder that the middle of the word is spelled serv, not surv.

How the word is built

• con- (together, thoroughly)
• serv (from servare: to keep, guard, save)
• -ative (adjective/noun suffix)