Preservative

//prɪˈzəːvətɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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."

  2. 2
    a chemical compound that is added to protect against decay or decomposition wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Tending to preserve.

    "The curators took preservative actions to maintain the ancient collection."

Adjective
  1. 1
    tending or having the power to preserve wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
protectivebackwardbrineconservationalconservationistconservative

Example

More examples

"Is benzoic acid safe as a food preservative?"

Etymology

From Old French preservatif, from Medieval Latin praeservativus.

Related phrases

self-preservative

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.