Etymology

conservative

con·ser·va·tive
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Today it means: A person who favors maintenance of the status quo. Full definition →

Middle French conservatif ← Latin cōnservō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcōnservō“to preserve”
  2. Middle French · borrowed fromconservatif
  3. English todayconservative

Borrowed from Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.