Conservate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To keep something intact and protect it from decay, damage, or loss over time
2. To maintain and guard a thing so that it remains whole and is not wasted or destroyed
3. To preserve something carefully so that it continues in its existing state for the future

Etymology: "Conservate" is a back-formation from "conservation": English speakers took the noun "conservation" and, by stripping off its ending, created a new verb that means roughly the same thing. The noun came first, from Latin "conservatio," and the verb was built from it afterwards rather than borrowed directly. Back-formations like this are common in English. Speakers tend to see a noun ending in "-ation" and assume a verb ending in "-ate" lies behind it, as with "donate" from "donation" or "edit" from "editor." The pattern runs in the other direction here, since "conservation" was already in use and "conservate" was carved out of it.

Synonyms: conserve, preserve, keep, maintain, save

Antonyms: waste, squander, destroy