PRESERVATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does preservation mean? 

• PRESERVATION (noun)
  The noun PRESERVATION has 4 senses:

1. the activity of protecting something from loss or danger

2. the condition of being (well or ill) preserved

3. a process that saves organic substances from decay

4. an occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss or injury or other change

  Familiarity information: PRESERVATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRESERVATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The activity of protecting something from loss or danger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

preservation; saving

Hypernyms ("preservation" is a kind of...):

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "preservation"):

environmentalism (the activity of protecting the environment from pollution or destruction)

conservation (the preservation and careful management of the environment and of natural resources)

self-preservation (preservation of yourself from harm; a natural or instinctive tendency)

reservation (the act of keeping back or setting aside for some future occasion)

immobilisation; immobilization (fixation (as by a plaster cast) of a body part in order to promote proper healing)

Derivation:

preserve (keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction)

preserve (maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The condition of being (well or ill) preserved

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("preservation" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Derivation:

preserve (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A process that saves organic substances from decay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("preservation" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "preservation"):

fixation; fixing ((histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body)

embalmment (preservation (of a dead body) by treating with balsams and drugs and other chemicals)

plastination (a process involving fixation and dehydration and forced impregnation and hardening of biological tissues; water and lipids are replaced by curable polymers (silicone or epoxy or polyester) that are subsequently hardened)

infrigidation; refrigeration (the process of cooling or freezing (e.g., food) for preservative purposes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss or injury or other change

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

conservation; preservation

Hypernyms ("preservation" is a kind of...):

advance; betterment; improvement (a change for the better; progress in development)

 Context examples 

The chemical preservation of a substance to maintain structural and/or molecular features of that substance as they exist in the living entity.

(Fixation, NCI Thesaurus)

A fertility preservation procedure is done before a medical treatment that may cause infertility, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

(Fertility preservation, NCI Dictionary)

It provides particularly excellent preservation of nuclei and chromosomes.

(Bouin's Fixative, NCI Thesaurus)

There is architectural preservation of the involved tissues.

(Infectious Mononucleosis-Like Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Lobular Cancerization (or cancerization of lobules, COL) is the presence in a lobule of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) tumor cells with preservation of the normal lobular pattern.

(Lobular Cancerization, NCI Thesaurus)

An early post-transplant lymphoproliferative lesion characterized by plasmacytic proliferation and architectural preservation of the involved tissues.

(Plasmacytic Hyperplasia Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

The maintenance or growth of tissues, organ primordia, or the parts or whole of an organ in vitro in such a way as to allow differentiation or preservation of the architecture or function.

(Organ Culture, NCI Thesaurus)

Some preservation procedures are meant to maintain cells, tissues, or organisms in a viable state.

(Biologic Sample Preservation Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)

Specializes in the prospective procurement, preservation and distribution of human tissues for research.

(Cooperative Human Tissue Network, NCI Thesaurus)

Some remote instinct for preservation stirred in him, and he knew he must get away.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)