Etymologically
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reservoir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈrez.əv.wɑː/, US /ˈrez.ɚv.wɑːr/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French réservoir (“storehouse”),[2][3][4] from réserver (“to reserve”) and the suffix -oir,[2][4][5] from Latin reservō (“to keep back, save up”) (see reserve).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Figuratively, a place where something is collected or tends to collect: 1690 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, the 1680s in Etymonline.[6][2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

A receptacle in which water is collected and stored is from 1705, in Addison.[2][6] A tank or cistern for water and a part of a plant or animal holding a fluid are from the 1720s–30s,[6] and a natural place where water collects from the 1730s–40s.[6] A body of porous rock holding oil or natural gas is from 1912.[6]

Timeline

  • 1690 – a figurative store.[6][2]
  • 1705 – a water reservoir.[2][6]
  • 1727–38 – a cistern; a store of fluid in a body.[6]
  • 1912 – an oil or gas reservoir.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A natural or artificial lake used to store water for a community or for irrigation.
  2. A tank or chamber for storing a fluid.
  3. An underground accumulation of oil or natural gas.
  4. A large supply or store of something.

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press