preservation

From Old French preservacion, from Medieval Latin preservatio. Morphologically preserve +‎ -ation.

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹɛ.zɝˈveɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

preservation (countable and uncountable, plural preservations)

1. The act of preserving; care to preserve; act of keeping from destruction, decay or any ill.
   • 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Nature does not require
     Her times of preservation, which, perforce
     I give my tendence to

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Ecclesiastes 34:16:

     The eyes of the Lord are upon them that love him, his is ther mighty protection, a preservation from stumbling, and a help from falling.

   • c. 1600, Sir John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul

     Every seneseless thing by nature's light
     Doth preservation seek, destruction shun

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], OCLC 153628242:

     , Book II, Chapter XXI

     our all-wise Maker, suitably to our constitution and frame, and knowing what it is that determines the will, has put into man the uneasiness of hunger and thirst, and other natural desires, that return at their seasons, to move and determine their wills, for the preservation of themselves, and the continuation of their species

   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Didcot (1932)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 61:

     Tons of engine sheds would bite the dust with the end of steam, and many would be demolished with their time in the spotlight over. We're lucky that the one at Didcot survived into preservation.

2. The state of being preserved, how something has survived.
   • 2022 January 12, Dr. Joseph Brennan, “Castles: ruined and redeemed by rail”, in RAIL, number 948, page 54:

     As Edwin Clark [...] wrote in 1850: "[...] The lofty towers of the castle overhang the western approach to the Bridge, and the line passes into Conway through an opening pierced in the embattled wall, which entirely surrounds the town. These fortifications are in good preservation, and rank among the most perfect examples of the strongholds of the 13th century."