Reserve is to set aside or book for later — reserve a table. Preserve is to keep safe from harm or decay — preserve the building. Both are also nouns: a reserve is a stock kept back or a protected area; a preserve is jam, or an activity kept for one group.
The core difference
- reserve — verb: to keep back for later; to book. Reserve judgement, reserve a seat. Noun: a stock held back, cash reserves; a protected area, a nature reserve; restraint of manner, his natural reserve.
- preserve — verb: to keep safe, maintain, or stop from decaying. Preserve the evidence, preserve fruit. Noun: fruit cooked with sugar, strawberry preserve; a domain reserved for one group, once the preserve of the rich.
The tell
The prefixes carry the sense. Re- is "back": you hold something back for later. Pre- is "before": you guard against harm before it happens. A nature reserve is land held back from development; preserved land is kept as it is. Both can be true of the same place, which is why they blur.
In use
- reserve — We reserved a table for eight. The bank's reserves are healthy.
- preserve — The trust preserves old barns. A jar of homemade plum preserve.
Common slips
- preserve a table for eight → reserve a table for eight
- reserve the old barn from decay → preserve the old barn from decay
Re- holds back for later; pre- guards ahead of harm.
Where the words come from
Both end in Latin servare, "to keep, to guard". Reserve is reservare, "to keep back". Preserve is praeservare, "to guard beforehand". The jam sense of preserve is from the seventeenth century, when sugar was the way to keep fruit from spoiling.
Frequently asked questions
Is it "reserve a table" or "preserve a table"?
Reserve a table — book it. To preserve a table would be to keep the furniture from decaying.
What is a nature reserve?
An area of land set aside and protected for wildlife. Reserve here is the noun: something held back.
Why is jam called a preserve?
Because cooking fruit with sugar preserves it — keeps it from spoiling. The noun came from the verb.