Etymograph

English

preserve

Preserve comes from Old French preserver.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400preserver
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preserven‘to keep safe’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599preserve

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400preserver
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500preserven‘to keep safe’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1599preserve

Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.: “O, the Lord preserve thy good Grace! By my…”

A compound of prae ‘before’ + servāre ‘maintain, keep’

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before’

Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i ‘before, in front’

Proto-Italic *prai ‘before’

Latin prae ‘before’

Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to flow’

Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian?’

Latin servus ‘a slave’

Latin servō ‘maintain, keep’

Every English word from Old French preserver

Today it means

noun A sweet spread made of any of a variety of fruits.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French preserver / preserve

Shirt and support for this word