Conserve

How to spell conserve

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce conserve

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conserve mean?

1. verbTo protect something from harm, loss, or waste, or to use it carefully so it lasts.
2. nounA jam-like preparation of fruit cooked and kept in sugar.

Conserve in a sentence

• verb

  The new policy aims to conserve water during the dry summer months.

• noun

  She spread a thick layer of cherry conserve on the warm scone.

• verb

  Switching off idle machines helps the factory conserve energy.

• noun

  The farm shop sells homemade apricot conserve in small glass jars.

Where does conserve come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Conserve comes from the Latin verb conservare, which meant 'to keep safe' or 'to preserve', built from the intensive prefix con- (here adding the sense of 'thoroughly') and servare, meaning 'to keep, watch over, or guard'. The same servare root sits inside 'preserve', 'reserve', and 'observe', all of which share the idea of keeping or watching something. English took the word in during the late 1300s by way of Old French conserver, first in the sense of protecting something from harm or decay. From the idea of keeping fruit from spoiling came the noun use for fruit preserved in sugar, the jam-like 'conserve' still sold today. The spelling stays close to the Latin throughout, so remembering the servare 'keep' root helps fix the single s and the -serve ending.

How the word is built

• con- (together, thoroughly)
• serve (from servare: to keep, guard)