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PlainSpell

preserve

/pɹəˈzɝv/noun, verb

preserve is spelled P-R-E-S-E-R-V-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, preserve means “A sweet spread made of any of a variety of fruits” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of preserve is preserves.

How many letters and syllables are in preserve?

Letters8: P-R-E-S-E-R-V-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing15 times per million words; the 5,206th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is preserve?

Preserve appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th 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 preserve?

  • UK /pɹəˈzɜːv/
  • US /pɹəˈzɝv/

Preserve has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-preserve.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with preserve?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as preserve from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹv/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: perverse.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of preserve

  • preserves plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • præserve
  • preserving participle, present
  • preserved participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does preserve mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A sweet spread made of any of a variety of fruits.

  2. 2

    A reservation, a nature preserve.

  3. 3

    An exclusive area of activity.

    Kids regard their tree houses as their own preserve.

verb

  1. 1

    To protect; to keep from harm or injury.

    Let's pray that we'd be preserved from danger.

  2. 2

    To save from decay by the use of some preservative substance, such as sugar or salt; to season and prepare (fruits, meat, etc.) for storage.

    to preserve peaches or grapes

  3. 3

    To maintain throughout; to keep intact.

    to preserve appearances; to preserve silence

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate preserve?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of preserve: Pres.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Preserve in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconfiture, conserve (sweet spread), réserve naturelle (nature preserve), domaine réservé (activity with restricted access), préserver (to protect), conserver (to keep; to maintain the condition of)
GermanKonserve, Eingemachtes (sweet spread), Naturschutzgebiet, Naturreservat (nature preserve), erhalten, bewahren (to protect)
Spanishmermelada (sweet spread), reserva, reserva natural (nature preserve), coto, terreno, dominio (activity with restricted access)
Portuguesereserva (nature preserve), preservar (to protect), conservar (to keep; to maintain the condition of)

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 preserve come from?

From Middle English preserven, from Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin prēservāre (“keep, preserve”), from Late Latin praeservāre (“guard beforehand”), from prae (“before”, adverb) + servāre (“maintain, keep”). Displaced native Old English nerian.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after preserve