v.
   - maintain in its original or existing state. 
▸keep alive (a memory or quality).
 - keep safe from harm or injury.
 - treat (food) to prevent its decomposition. 
▸prepare (fruit) for long-term storage by boiling it with sugar.
 
n.
   - a foodstuff made with fruit preserved in sugar.
 - something regarded as reserved for a particular person or group.
 - chiefly N. Amer. a place where game is protected and kept for private hunting or shooting.
 
 
  Derivative
  
    - preservable adj.
  - preservation n.
  - preserver n.
 
   
  Etymology
  ME: from OFr. preserver, from late L. praeservare, from prae- ‘before, in advance’ + servare ‘to keep’.