conservator

English

Alternative forms

• conservatour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English conservatour, from Anglo-Norman conservatour, from Latin cōnservātor (“one who conserves”), agent noun from cōnservō (“I preserve”).

Noun

conservator (plural conservators)

1. One who conserves, preserves or protects something.
   • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)

     Chlouveraki, a tenacious archaeological conservator, has salvaged antiquities all over the Middle East.

   • 1726, William Derham, Physico-Theology:

     the great Creator and Conservator of the world

2. (law) A person appointed by a court to manage the affairs of another; similar to a guardian but with some powers of a trustee.
   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

     The lords of the secret council were likewise made conservators of the peace of the two kingdoms.

   • 1839, John Bouvier, Law Dictionary:

     The Governor [of Missouri] is […] the conservator of the peace

3. An officer in charge of preserving the public peace, such as a justice or sheriff.
4. (Roman Catholicism) A judge delegated by the pope to defend certain privileged classes of persons from manifest or notorious injury or violence, without recourse to a judicial process.
5. A professional who works on the conservation and restoration of objects, particularly artistic objects.

Derived terms

• conservatorial
• conservator of the peace
• conservatorship

Related terms

• conservatee
• conservation
• conservative

Translations

Further reading

• conservator on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch conservateur, from Middle French conservateur, from Old French conservateur, from Latin cōnservātor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɔn.zɛrˈvaː.tɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧ser‧va‧tor
• Rhymes: -aːtɔr

Noun

conservator m (plural conservators or conservatoren, diminutive conservatortje n, feminine conservatrice)

1. curator (of a museum or a library)

Latin

Etymology

From cōnservō +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kon.serˈu̯aː.tor/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon.serˈva.tor/,

Noun

cōnservātor m (genitive cōnservātōris, feminine cōnservātrīx); third declension

1. keeper, preserver, defender

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

• → Old French: conservateur
  • Anglo-Norman: conservatour
    • → English: conservator
  • Middle French: conservateur
    • → Middle Dutch: conservateur
      • Dutch: conservator

Verb

cōnservātor

1. second/third-person singular future passive imperative of cōnservō

References

• “conservator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “conservator”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• conservator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• conservator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French conservateur, from Latin cōnservātor. Equivalent to conserva +‎ -tor.

Adjective

conservator m or n (feminine singular conservatoare, masculine plural conservatori, feminine and neuter plural conservatoare)

1. conservative

Declension