Etymologically
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conservativus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõː.sɛr.waːˈtiː.wʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kon.ser.vaˈtiː.vus][1]

Forms

cōnservātīvus (feminine cōnservātīva, neuter cōnservātīvum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnservō (“to keep, preserve”) + -īvus, formed on the past participle cōnservātus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boethius is its first author: in his translation of Aristotle's Topics he contrasts what produces health with what preserves it, hoc quidem sanitātis effectīvum, illud autem cōnservātīvum.[2][4] He also uses the adverb cōnservātīvē.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant “preserving, maintaining”,[5][2] and Medieval Latin used it above all in philosophy and medicine.[6][7] Medicine that preserves health was set beside medicine that cures it,[7] and Albertus Magnus uses it in his commentary on Aristotle's Ethics.[6] It could also mean “making durable, preserving” of things, and “keeping, retaining”; as a neuter noun it was a remedy that keeps health once it has been restored.[6] Philosophers used it of the will, or the soul, that keeps in being what it produces.[7]

English conservative, from Old French conservatif, is recorded from the late 14th century in the sense “tending to preserve”; its political use dates from the 1830s.[3] Wiktionary gives a Latin sense “politically conservative” as well.[1]

Timeline

  • first quarter of the 6th century AD – Boethius contrasts what produces health with what preserves it.[2][4]
  • c. 1239 – Robert Grosseteste writes of medicine that keeps health stable.[7]
  • 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it in his commentary on Aristotle's Ethics.[6][4]
  • late 14th century – English conservative is borrowed through Old French.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Preserving, maintaining; keeping whole.[2][5][6][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Preserving health, preservative.[7][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Making durable; keeping, retaining.[6][4]
  4. (New Latin) Conservative in politics.[1]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, neuter) A remedy that preserves restored health.[6]

Usage notes

The adverb cōnservātīvē is first found in Boethius as well.[2] It is the counterpart of effectīvus, “producing”, in his translation.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press