All 5 Uses of

preserve
in
Middlemarch

But so far is he from having any desire for a more accurate knowledge of the earth's surface, that he said he should prefer not to know the sources of the Nile, and that there should be some unknown regions preserved as hunting grounds for the poetic imagination.†
Chpt 1 *

preserved = protected or kept something as it was

He had to be deferential when Mr. Vincy decided questions with trenchant ignorance, especially as to those liquors which were the best inward pickle, preserving you from the effects of bad air.†
Chpt 4

"Chettam, now," he replied; "he finds fault with me, my dear; but I should not preserve my game if it were not for Chettam, and he can't say that that expense is for the sake of the tenants, you know.†
Chpt 4

Through all his bodily infirmity there ran a tenacious nerve of ambitious self-preserving will, which had continually leaped out like a flame, scattering all doctrinal fears, and which, even while he sat an object of compassion for the merciful, was beginning to stir and glow under his ashy paleness.†
Chpt 7

yet thou dost wear The Godhead's most benignant grace; Nor know we anything so fair As is the smile upon thy face; Flowers laugh before thee on their beds, And fragrance in thy footing treads; Thou dost preserve the Stars from wrong; And the most ancient Heavens, through thee, are fresh and strong.†
Chpt 8

Definitions:

(1) (preserve as in: preserve the records)
to protect something or to keep it as it is
(2) (preserve as in: preserve the peaches)
to prepare food in a way that keeps it from spoiling
(3) (preserve as in: a wildlife preserve)
protected wildlife area
(4) (preserve as in: no longer a male preserve)
something exclusive to (someone or some group) -- such as an activity or place
(5) (preserves as in: mom made preserves)
chunks of fruit cooked with sugar (like jam) and sealed (usually in a mason jar) so it will not spoil