preservative

pre·ser·va·tive
P3R1E1S1E1R1V4A1T1I1V4E1
/prɪˈzɜːvətɪv/

noun

Any agent, natural or artificial, that acts to preserve, especially when added to food.

“Salt, sugar, and acid all act as preservatives when making pickles.”

Similar
protective
OriginOld French preservatif ← Medieval Latin praeservativus →
Less commonScrabble 20
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpreservative (plural preservatives)

plural preservatives

  1. Any agent, natural or artificial, that acts to preserve, especially when added to food.

    Salt, sugar, and acid all act as preservatives when making pickles.

adjective
  1. Tending to preserve.

    The curators took preservative actions to maintain the ancient collection.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivetending or having the power to preserve

Similar
protective

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinpraeservativus
  2. Old Frenchpreservatif
  3. Englishpreservative

From Old French preservatif, from Medieval Latin praeservativus.

More words from Old French, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مَادَّة حَافِظَة
  • مَادَّة حَافِظَةany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Bulgarian предпазващ
  • предпазващ (predpazvašt)tending to preserve
Catalan preservador
  • preservadorany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Chinese Mandarin 防腐劑 /防腐剂, 防腐的
  • 防腐劑 /防腐剂 (fángfǔjì)any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • 防腐的 (fángfǔ de)tending to preserve
Czech konzervant
  • konzervantany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Danish konserveringsmiddel
  • konserveringsmiddelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Dutch conserveermiddel, bewaarmiddel
  • conserveermiddelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • bewaarmiddelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Estonian säilitusaine
  • säilitusaineany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Finnish säilöntäaine, säilyttävä
  • säilöntäaineany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • säilyttävätending to preserve
French conservateur, préservateur
  • conservateurany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • préservateurany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
German Konservierungsmittel
  • Konservierungsmittelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Greek συντηρητικό, συντηρητικός
  • συντηρητικό (syntiritikó)any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • συντηρητικός (syntiritikós)tending to preserve
Hungarian tartósítószer
  • tartósítószerany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Indonesian bahan pengawet
  • bahan pengawetany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Irish leasaitheach
  • leasaitheachtending to preserve
Italian conservante, preservativo
  • conservanteany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • preservativotending to preserve
Japanese 防腐剤
  • 防腐剤 (bōfuzai)any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Norwegian Bokmål konserveringsmiddel
  • konserveringsmiddelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Polish konserwant, środek konserwujący
  • konserwantany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • środek konserwującyany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • zapobiegawczytending to preserve
Portuguese preservante, conservante
  • preservanteany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • conservanteany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • preservadortending to preserve
Romanian conservant
  • conservantany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Russian консерва́нт
  • консерва́нт (konservánt)any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Slovak konzervačný
  • konzervačnýtending to preserve
Spanish conservante, preservante
  • conservanteany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • preservanteany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • preservativoany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • preservativotending to preserve
Swedish konserveringsmedel
  • konserveringsmedelany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Turkish koruyucu
  • koruyucuany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Ukrainian консерва́нт
  • консерва́нт (konservánt)any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Vietnamese chất bảo quản
  • chất bảo quảnany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Welsh cadwolyn
  • cadwolynany agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Cite this entry
APA

preservative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preservative

MLA

“preservative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preservative. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preservative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preservative.

Source: preservative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.