conservative

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kənˈsɜː.və.tɪv/, US /kənˈsɝː.və.t̬ɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conservatyf,^[2] borrowed from Old French conservatif,^[2][3] from Medieval Latin conservātīvus,^[2][4][5] from Latin conservatus, past participle of conservāre (“to keep, preserve, keep intact”),^[2][3] from com-, here perhaps intensive, and servare “to keep watch, maintain”,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to protect”).^[2] It is related to conserve and conservation.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Tending to preserve or keep intact; preservative”: about 1384 in the OED,^[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] The noun, a means of preservation, a preservative, is also from the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Johnson in 1755 still defined it as “having the power of opposing diminution or injury”.^[7] The modern senses date from the 19th century.^[5] As the name of a British political party it first appeared in 1830, in an unsigned article in the Quarterly Review sometimes attributed to John Wilson Croker,^[2][6] and by 1843 it had replaced the older, pejorative Tory.^[2] The noun in this political sense is from 1831.^[2][3] Conservatism as a political tradition goes back to Edmund Burke's opposition to the French Revolution, but the word is not in his writings: it was coined by his French followers, such as Chateaubriand, whose journal was Le Conservateur.^[2] The general sense “disposed to keep what is established, opposed to change” is from 1840,^[2] and it was applied to similar movements in other countries from 1845.^[6] “Cautious, moderate”, especially of a deliberately low estimate, is from 1900.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – preservative.^[6]
• 1755 – Johnson: “having the power of opposing diminution”.^[7]
• 1830 – the British Conservative party.^[6][2]
• 1831 – noun, a political Conservative.^[2][3]
• 1840 – opposed to change.^[2]
• 1845 – of movements in other countries.^[6]
• 1900 – cautious; of an estimate.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Favouring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative suit.
3. Moderate or cautious: a conservative estimate.
4. Of the political philosophy of conservatism, or of a conservative party.
5. (medicine) Aiming to preserve tissue rather than remove it: conservative surgery.

Noun

1. A person who favours traditional views and values.
2. A supporter of political conservatism, or a member of a Conservative party.
3. (archaic) A preservative.

Word family

• conservatively
• conservativeness
• neoconservative
• ultraconservative
• archconservative
• conservatize
• hyperconservative
• nonconservative

Related words

• conserve
• conservationist
• conservatism
• conservator
• conservation
• conservatory
• preserve
• observe
• Tory

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.