praeservatio

Forms

praeservatio f (genitive praeservatiōnis); third declension^[1] It is also spelled preservatio and preservacio.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin praeservō + -tiō, a noun of action from the Medieval Latin verb.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates the first record, from Latham's word list, to about 1365,^[2] with the sense of keeping something in its state.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant keeping something in a given state or condition,^[4] and keeping it safe, protection, as in Wyclif's “preservation from sin”;^[4] in medical writing it was protection from disease, as in the prevention of eye diseases.^[3] In Church Latin it is preservation, the act of saving.^[1] English preservation, first “protection from disease”, came in the early 15th century from Old French, which had it from the Medieval Latin word.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1365 – First record in Latham, according to Köbler.^[2]
• 1413 – A letter in the Bekynton collection speaks of the preservation of Rome.^[4]
• early 15th century – English preservation is first recorded, through Old French.^[5]
• 1545 – A Scottish Church council speaks of the preservation of liberty.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Preservation, keeping something in its state.^[4][2]
2. Protection, keeping safe (from harm, sin or disease).^[4][3][1]

Related words

• English preservation

References

1. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com