Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRES-ER-VA'TION, n. [from preserve; It. preservazione.]

The act of preserving or keeping safe; the act of keeping from injury, destruction or decay; as, the preservation of life or health; the preservation of buildings from fire or decay; the preservation of grain from insects; the preservation of fruit or plants. When a thing is kept entirely from decay, or nearly in its original state, we say it is in a high state of preservation.