Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRE-SERV'A-TIVE, n.

That which preserves or has the power of preserving; something that tends to secure a person or thing in a sound state, or prevent it from injury, destruction, decay or corruption; a preventive of injury or decay. Persons formerly wore tablets of arsenic, as preservatives against the plague. Clothing is a preservative against cold. Temperance and exercise are the best preservatives of health. Habitual reverence of the Supreme Being is an excellent preservative against sin and the influence of evil examples.