Etymologically
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conservative

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 22:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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.