Terms That Might Bore You!

In the following words, 保 means “to maintain unchanged, keep, conserve”:

保持する (hoji suru: to maintain, preserve)   to keep + to endure
保有する (hoyū suru: to possess, maintain)     to keep + to have
確保する (kakuho suru: to secure, make sure of, ensure)
     steadfast + to maintain unchanged

The noun form (that is, minus the suru) means “security.” You may know 確 from 確か (tashika: certain) or 確認 (kakunin: confirmation, certain + to identify).

And in this list, 保 means “to maintain in good condition”:

保管する (hokan suru: to keep safe, keep, preserve)
     to maintain in good condition + to manage
保存する (hozon suru: to store, conserve)
     to maintain in good condition + to preserve

The noun form means “preservation.”

保全 (hozen: integrity, preservation)
     to maintain in good condition + whole

You’ve likely heard snide comments such as, “She’s very well preserved,” which often means, “Boy, has she had a lot of plastic surgery!” Little did you know that preservation was intimately connected with integrity!

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