English
conservative
Conservative comes from Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō ‘to preserve’, from con- + servō ‘to keep, protect’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservō‘to keep, protect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnservō‘to preserve’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600conservatif
- Englishearliest quotation 1830conservative
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservō‘to keep, protect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnservō‘to preserve’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600conservatif
- Englishearliest quotation 1830conservative
Earliest quotation: 1830, Quarterly Rev.:: “We have always been conscientiously attached to what is…”
Formed from conserve + -ative
Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian?’
…
Latin servo ‘keep watch, maintain’
Latin conservare ‘to keep, preserve’
Old French conserver ‘to keep’
Middle English conserven
English conserve
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to guard, take care’
series, sort, stream, hero, desert, insert, exert, heresy, sermon, assertion, sorcery, sorcerer, concierge, heretic, sark, assertive, strudel, sere, 33 more
through Old Latin servos
through Latin servus ‘a slave’
service, serve, servitude, serf, servile, 9 more
through Latin servō
Today it means
noun A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin servō / conservative