preservative
pre·ser·va·tive/prɪˈzɜːvətɪv/noun, adjective
preservative is spelled P-R-E-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-V-E: 12 letters and 4 syllables (pre·ser·va·tive). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, preservative means “Any agent, natural or artificial, that acts to preserve, especially when added to food” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of preservative is preservatives.
How many letters and syllables are in preservative?
| Letters | 12: P-R-E-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: pre·ser·va·tive |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is preservative?
Preservative appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce preservative?
- /prɪˈzɜːvətɪv/
Preservative has 4 syllables, split pre·ser·va·tive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-preservative.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of preservative
- preservatives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does preservative mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any agent, natural or artificial, that acts to preserve, especially when added to food.
Salt, sugar, and acid all act as preservatives when making pickles.
adjective
- 1
Tending to preserve.
The curators took preservative actions to maintain the ancient collection.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Preservative in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | conservateur, préservateur |
| German | Konservierungsmittel |
| Portuguese | preservante, conservante , preservador |
| Spanish | conservante, preservante, preservativo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does preservative come from?
From Old French preservatif, from Medieval Latin praeservativus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).