preservation 
= Pg. preserraq&o = It. preservazione, < ML. 
*prteserra1io(n-), < prxxerrarc, pp. prxservatux, 
keep, preserve, LL. observe beforehand: see 
preserve.] 1. The act of preserving, or keeping 
safe or sound ; the act of keeping from injury or 
decay : as, the preservation of life or of property. 
Well yet enlarge that man, 
Though Cambridge, Scroop, aim Grey, In their dear care 
And tender preservation of our person, 
Would have him punish'd. Shak., Hen. V., 11. 2. 59. 
Do not attempt to be more amusing and agreeable than 
is consistent with the preservation of respect. 
Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, vi. 
2. The state of being preserved from injury or 
decay; escape from destruction or danger: as, 
a building in good preservation. 
Give us particulars of thy preservation. 
Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 185. 
Ev'ry senseless thing, by nature's light, 
Doth presentation seek, destruction shun. 
Sir J. Davit*, Immortal, of Soul, xxx. 
3. A means of security or escape. 
It hapned, Master Argent had put his Bamlileir of pow- 
der in his hat, which next God was all their presentations. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 93. 
Peace Preservation Acts. See peace. 
preservative (pre-zer'va-tiv), it. and . [< OF. 
preservattff F. prfsercaiif = Sp. Pg. It. preser- 
vatiro,<. ML. *preesercativus, ( prwscrvarc, pp. 
prtesrrrat us, preserve: Bee preserve.'] I. . Pre- 
serving; tending to keep safe, sound, or free 
from decay: as, the presrrraticc quality of salt. 
As above directed, the preservative bath contains about 
eight grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce. 
Lea, Photography, p. 350. 
It will be, however, evident that a preservative society 
has a very uphill task. It has to war against the preju- 
dices of the sexton and the hum it is sapientia (irimthorpe. 
nineteenth Century, XXII. 240. 
II. a. That which preserves ; anything which 
tends to keep safe and sound, or free from in- 
jury, corruption, or decay ; a preventive of 
damage, decomposition, or waste. 
Lykeas the phisitions call those diseases most peryllous 
against whom is founden no preservative. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, 111. 4. 
Their (Druids') druttcnfuss, I. e., a pentagonal flgure 
. . . which in Germany they reckon for a preserratiee 
against hobgoblins. 
Selden, Illustrations of Drayton's Polyolbion, ix. 417. 
A heart in heaven will be a most excellent preitervatire 
against temptations. Baxter, Saints' Rest, iv. 3. 
This ceremony of the sprinkling of salt is considered a 
preservative, for the child and mother, from the evil eye. 
K. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, II. >". 
This facile adaptation was at once the symptom of per- 
fect health and its best preservative. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, ix. 
preservatory(pre-zer'va-to-ri), a. and . [< 
ML. "pratervatorms (cf. praservator, a pre- 
server), < preescrvan; pp. prxxerratus, pre- 
serve : Bee preserve.'] I. a. Tending to preserve ; 
preservative. 
The indeavours must be no other then preservatory, how- 
ever it pleaseth God to order the events. 
/.'/'. ll"ll, Cases of Conscience, II. 3. 
II. n. ; pi. preserralories (-riz). If. A pre- 
servative. 
llow many masters have some stately houses had, in the 
age of a small cottage, that hath, as it were, lived and 
died with her old master, both dropping down together ! 
Such vain preservatories of us are our inheritances, even 
once removed. 
Whitlock, Manners of the English, p. 410. (Lathuin.) 
2. An apparatus for preserving substances for 
foodj or a building where the process of pre- 
serving food-products is carried on. 
By all their hollow sides is made within a very large 
preservatory, cistern, or basin, fit to contain a pretty quan- 
tity of water. Dr. Sloane, in Ray's Works of Creation, p. 2. 
preserve (pre-zerv'), . ; pret. and pp. preserved, 
ppr. preserving. [< OF. preserver, F. preser- 
ver = Sp. Pg. preservar = It. preserrare, keep, 
< LL. prxservare, observe beforehand, ML. keep, 
preserve, < L. prir, before, + set-rare, save, pre- 
serve, protect. Cf. conserve, reserve J\ I. trans. 
1 . To keep safe or free from harm ; defend from 
injury or destruction; save. 
God did send me before you to preserve life. Gen. xlv. 5. 
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man ; preserve me 
from the violent man. Ps. cxl. 1. 
To preserve my sovereign from his foe, 
Say but the word, and I will be his priest. 
Shot., 2 Hen. VI., ilL 1. 271. 
And could they have preserved the Magazine of Tobacco 
only, besides other Things in that Town, something might 
have been had to countervail the Charge of the Voyage. 
Hovxtt, Letters, I. 1. 4. 
Preserve me from the thing I dread and hate, 
A duel in the form of a debate. 
Cowper, Conversation, 1. 83. 
4705 
2. To maintain; secure permanence to ; keep 
in existence or alive ; make lasting: as, to pre- 
serve one's good looks. 
To worship God aright, and know bis works 
Not hid ; nor those things last which might preserve 
Freedom and peace to men. MUton, f. L, xl. 579. 
The spectacle had allured Reynolds from that easel 
which has preserved to us the thoughtful foreheads of so 
many writers and statesmen, and the sweet smiles of so 
many noble matrons. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
To such a name 
Preserve a broad approach of fame, 
And ever-echoing avenues of song. 
Tiiin:i*:ii. Death of Wellington, v. 
3. To keep possession of ; retain. 
Preserve your worth, and I'll preserve my money. 
Beau, and Ft., Thierry and Theodoret, T. I. 
Only perchance some melancholy Stream 
And some Indignant Hills old names preserve, 
When laws, and creeds, and people all are lost ! 
Wordsworth, Eccles. Sonnets, 1. 12. 
He can never preserve through a single paragraph either 
the calmness of a philosopher or the meekness of a Chris- 
tian. Macaulay, Sadler's Ref. Refuted. 
4. To prepare in such a manner as to resist 
decomposition or fermentation ; prevent from 
spoiling by the use of preservative substances, 
with or without the agency of heat: as, to^rr- 
serve meats or fruit ; to preserve an anatomical 
specimen. 
I ha' some quinces brought from our house I' th' country 
to preserve; when shall we have any good sugar come 
over? Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, II. 1. 
Delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and 
pears, and quinces. Irnng, Sketch-Book, p. 440. 
5. To maintain and reserve for personal or 
special use in hunting or fishing, (a) To raise, 
provide for, and protect, as game, for use at certain seasons 
or by certain persons, as in hunting or fishing : as, to pre- 
serve quail ; to preserve salmon. (6) To reserve and adapt 
to the protection and propagation of game designed for 
special use, as in hunting or fishing : as, preserved covers ; 
a preserved stream. =Svn. 1 and 2. Protect, Defend, etc. 
(see keep), secure, shield, conserve, spare. 
II. intruiis. 1. To prepare decomposable sub- 
stances, as meats or fruits, for preservation ; 
make preserves. 
Hast thon not learn'd me how 
To make perfumes'; distil? preservet 
Shak., Cymbeline, I. 5. 13. 
2. To raise and protect game for special use, 
as in hunting or fishing. 
Squire Thornhlll . . . had taken the liberty to ask per 
mission to shoot over Mr. Leslie's land, since Mr. Leslie 
did not preserve. Bvlver, My Novel, vlll. 5. 
preserve (pre-zerv'), " [< preserve, t.] If. That 
which preserves or saves. 
Fetch balsamo, the kind preserve of life. 
Greene and Lodge, Looking Glass for Lond. and Eng. 
Specifically 2. pi. A kind of spectacles with 
colored glasses to protect the eyes from too 
strong light. 
Preserves are used to conceal deformities or to protect 
the eyes in the many conditions where they cannot tolerate 
bright light. . . . They are made of bluish, "smoked, "or 
almost black coloured glass, and are of very various 
shapes, according to the amount of obscuration necessary, 
Eneyc. Brit., XXII. 872. 
3. That which is preserved, or prepared for 
keeping; especially, fruit, meats, etc., suitably 
seasoned and cooked to prevent fermentation 
or spoiling. 
At this Treat I eat of a Preserve or Wet Sweetmeat, 
made of Orange Flowers, Incomparable; and the Lady 
obliged me with the manner of making it 
Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 199. 
A female Dodson, when In " strange houses," always 
ate dry bread with her tea, and declined any sort of pre- 
serves, having no confidence in the butter, and thinking 
that the preserves had probably begun to ferment from 
want of due sugar and boiling. 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, I. 6. 
4. A place where game is preserved; a place 
set apart for the protection and propagation of 
game intended for hunting or fishing. 5f. A 
thing preserved. 
Wonderful Indeed are the preserves of time, which open- 
eth unto us mummies from crypts and pyramids. 
Sir T. Browne, Mummies. 
preserve-jar (pre-zerv'jar), n. A jar made to 
contain preserved meats, fruits, etc., so con- 
trived that it may be tightly closed, to exclude 
the air and prevent evaporation, 
preserver (pre-zer' ver), H. 1. A person or thing 
that preserves ; one who or that which saves or 
guards from injury, destruction, or waste; a 
savior; a preservative. 
What shall I do unto thee, thou preserver of men? 
Job vil. 20. 
Camillo, 
Preserver of my father, now of me, 
The medicine of our house, how shall we do? 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 597. 
president 
"Tannin," says Poitevln, "Is then asenilflzer, and must 
be considered as such, and not as a preserver. " 
Stiver Sunbeam, p. 864. 
2. One who makes preserves, as of fruit, etc. 
3. One who preserves game for sport. 
preses (pre'sez), w. [< L. prases, one who pre- 
sides or guards, < prxsidcre, sit before or in 
front of: see preside.'} One who presides over 
the deliberations of an organized society or the 
like; a president; the chairman of a meeting. 
[Scotch/] 
preshow (pre-sho'), r. t. [< pre- + s/ioir.] To 
show beforehand; foreshow. Bogvt. [Hare.] 
preside (pre-zid'), r. . ; pret. and pp. presided, 
ppr. presiding. [< OF.presider, F. prrsider = Sp. 
Pg. presitlir = It. presettere, presiedere, preside 
over, govern, < L. preesidcrc, guard, protect, de- 
fend, have the care or management of, superin- 
tend, direct, also lit. (LL.) sit before or in front 
of, < prx, before, + sedere, sit: see sedentary, 
etc., sit.~\ 1. To be set over others; have the 
place of authority, as a chairman or director; 
direct and control, as a chief officer: usually 
denoting temporary superintendence and direc- 
tion : as, to preside over a society ; to preside at 
a public meeting. 
It Is farther to be noted that, in these solemn assemblies 
for the churches service, there is no one presides among 
them, after the manner of the assemblies of other people. 
Penn, Rise and Progress of Quakers, iv. 
Here comes the neighbouring justice, pleased to guide 
His little club, and in the chair preside. 
Crabbe, Works, I. 175. 
Man now presides 
In power, where once he trembled in his weakness. 
Wordsicorth, Sonnets, ill. 41. 
I was glad to see my lord preridiny at the dcmocratical 
College. Sydney Smith, To the Countess Grey. 
2. To exercise superintendence and direction ; 
have a guiding or controlling influence : as, the 
fates preside over man's destiny. 
The Holy Ghost, though it presided over the minds and 
pens of the apostles so far as to preserve them from error, 
yet doth not seem to have dictated to them what they 
were to say, word by word. Bp. A tterbiiry, Sermons, II. ix. 
Who conquer'd nature should preside o'er wit. 
Pupe, Essay on Criticism, 1. (152. 
Those medicinal agents which possess the power of di- 
rectly influencing the nervous mechanisms which preside 
over motion. Buck's Handbook / Med. Sciences, V. 27. 
Presiding elder. See eideri, i> (c). Presiding judge. 
See judge. 
presidence (prez'i-dgns), w. [< F.prtsidence = 
Pr. Sp. Pg. prcsidenciu = It. presidenza, < ML. 
pnexidentia,<> L. prO8%den(t-)s, ppr. otpnexidere, 
preside: see preside. Ct.preseance.] Same as 
presidency, [ttare.] 
The venerable pastor had come down 
From his high pulpit, and assumed the seat 
Of presidence. J. G. Holland, Kathrina, II. 
presidency (prez'i-den-si), n. [As presitlence 
(see -<;/).] 1. Superintendence and direct ion; 
controlling and directing influence, as of a pres- 
ident. 
The primitive church, expressing the calling and offices 
of a bishop, did it in terms of presidency and authority. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 203. 
For what account can be given of the determination of 
the growth and magnitude of plants from mechanical prin- 
ciples, of matter mov'd without the presidency and guid- 
ance of some superloor agent ? Ray, Works of Creation, L 
2. The office of president: as, the presidency 
of a college or a railroad corporation ; specifi- 
cally [cap.], the office of President of the 
United States. 
He (Grant) came to the Presidency a simple soldier, with- 
out many political ideas, or anything that could be called 
a political philosophy. The Nation, Sept. 7, 1882, p. 194. 
3. The term during which a president holds 
office: as, the presidency of Lincoln, of Thiers, 
etc. 4. In British India, a chief administra- 
tive division. In the early history of British India 
there were three presidencies Bengal, Bombay, and Ma- 
dras ; the last two are ruled by governors, and hence are 
sometimes called governorships; the former presidency 
of Bengal is now divided Into several administrative ter- 
ritories, including the lieutenant-governorships of Bengal 
(or Lower Bengal), the Northwestern Provinces, etc. In 
the seventeenth century the chief of an important fac- 
tory in India was popularly styled president, and In that 
sense the word is used in letters patent of the East India 
Company in 1061. First Presidency, among the Mor- 
mons, a board of presiding officers, consisting of the head 
of the hierarchy with two counselors. 
The second great power In the (Mormon) Church, next 
to the Prophet, is the First Presidency. This is composed 
of the Prophet and his two counsellors. The three toge- 
ther, known as the First Presidency or simply the Presi- 
dency, etc. Fifteen Years among the Mormons, p. 151. 
president 1 (prez'i-dent), n. and H. [< ME. presi- 
ili nl (u.), < OF. president, F. president = fr. pre- 
sident = Sp. Pg. It. presidente (= D. G. Sw. pre- 
sident = Dan. president, n.), < L. prtesiden(t-)s, 
