reserved, ppl. a.
(rɪˈzɜːvd)
[f. reserve v.]
† 1. a. Excepted. Chiefly in prepositional use: With the exception of, except, save. Obs.
| 1474 Caxton Chesse (Axon) 108 Alle worldly thynges ben mortifyed and appetissid in olde men reseruyd auaryce only, whiche alleway abideth wyth hym. 1481 ― Godfrey cxxxii. 196 They haue taken it entierly, Reserued a dongeon. 1531 Elyot Gov. ii. vi, All men were abashed, reserued the chiefe Justice. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) L vij, Soddaineley..was Isabell..stripede of her attire (reservede a riche smocke). 1579–80 North Plutarch, Pyrrus (1612) 405 And the Sea being high wrought..made shipwrackes of them, the Admirall onely reserued. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iv. 167 Onely reseru'd, you claime no interest In any of our Towns of Garrison. |
† b. With due respect for; duly regarded.
Obs.| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1680 Yet, syr, reserued your better aduysement, It were better he spake with you or he wente. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1010/1 But the reuerence of these writers reserued, this cannot be true concerning the church. |
† 2. Preserved; remaining undestroyed.
Obs.| 1555 Eden Decades 52 They lerned by the reserued chyldren. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 100 Dwelling and Trading in the remains of the Freedom, and in the reserved Suburbs. |
3. Averse to showing familiarity, or to open expression of thought or feeling; cold or distant; reticent, uncommunicative.
a. Of conduct, character, disposition, etc.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. v. 65 All her deseruing Is a reserued honestie. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 386 Such was brave Monck in his reserved mind, A riddle to his foes he did appear. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 196 Men of the Presbyterian perswasion..generally are morose, clownish, and of sullen and reserved natures. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiii. xi, ‘Pursuit of whom?’ said Sophia, a little recollecting herself, and assuming a reserved air. 1780 Burke Econ. Reform Wks. III. 336 The judges are, or ought to be, of a reserved and retired character. 1813 Sketches of Character (ed. 2) I. 211 [He] was of a reserved disposition. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §92 The reserved and proud imagination of the master-schools. |
b. Of persons.
| 1612 Bacon Ess., Seeming Wise (Arb.) 214 Some are so close, and reserved, as they will not shewe their wares, but by a darke light. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 251 His wife being very reserv'd and discreet in her husband's presence, but in his absence more free and jolly. 1685 Crowne Sir C. Nice i. 6 We are the most reserved family in the world. There were fourteen sisters of us, and not one of us married. 1746 Collins Ode Evening 5 Thy springs, and dying gales, O Nymph reserv'd. 1782 Cowper Friendship 188 The man I trust, if shy to me, Shall find me as reserv'd as he. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. III. 76 [They] are certainly queer, stiff, reserved sort of people. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. xii. 146 As a statesman he was reserved, seldom showing his own thoughts. |
| transf. 1622 Wither Philarete (1633) K 4 Let who will praise and behold The reserved Marigold. |
| absol. 1692 Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 92 So difficult is it in the most reserved, not to forget themselves in a great Fortune. 1728 Young Love Fame iv. 255 Fame is a bubble the reserv'd enjoy; Who strive to grasp it, as they touch, destroy. |
† c. Retired, secluded.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1653 Walton Angler xi. 205 They will usually lye..in one reserved place, where the water is deep, and runs quietly. |
4. Restrained or restricted in some way.
| 1654 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. (1661) 26 It is good to be sparing and reserved in censuring hereticks for obstinacy. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 120 It hath been the wisdom of the English parliaments to be very reserved in limiting the press. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. Part. cxxxiv. III. 101 The early Protestants, from whom the Anglican Church makes a reserved and cautious profession of being descended. |
5. a. Set or kept apart; specially retained for some person or purpose, etc. (See the verb.)
| 1616 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron i. (1641) 30 The chiefe Rabbies sate in reserved chaires, these are those chiefe seats in the Synagogues. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of News iv. i, With all your..reseru'd Questions, and Answers that you game with. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Case, At the article of death,..all reserved cases are absolvable by the ordinary. 1791 Kames Dict. Decis. (ed. 2) I. 291 In a question, how far a reserved faculty..accresced to a creditor whose debt was contracted before that faculty? 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1806) I. 153 Divide the reserved quotient by the square of s, and reserve this quotient. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 858 Reserved powers are of different sorts; as a reserved power of burdening a property, or a reserved power to revoke or recall a settlement or other deed. 1867 T. C. Anstey Notes Repr. People Act 54 Those ‘antient rights’..are sometimes called ‘reserved rights’ also, from the circumstance of the Reform Act of 1832 having expressly reserved them. 1884 Catholic Dict. (1897) 786/2 Absolution from a reserved sin may be given by the superior who reserves it. 1897 W. Walsh Secr. Hist. Oxf. Movem. x. (1898) 342 The ostensible reason for restoring the Reserved Sacrament is that it is then always ready to be given to the sick. |
b. reserved seats, those seats (at a public entertainment or meeting, or on a train etc.) which may be specially engaged beforehand. Also
fig. and in
sing.| 1858 Lytton What will He do i. iii, Happy to see any of your friends in the reserved seats. 1860 in M. W. Disher Cowells in Amer. (1934) 194 Most of the Audience were ‘reserved seat’ people, and pleasant. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life viii. ii. 288 Reserved seats in the great assemblage of the world. 1889 J. Hatton Reminisc. J. L. Toole I. i. 19, I glance at the house from the wings, find it crammed, the reserved seats filled with aristocratic and fashionably-dressed people. 1916 G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion Pref. p. xciv, An insane conceit of being the elect of God, with a reserved seat in heaven. 1935 R. Macaulay Personal Pleasures 19 Now for the train;..Second-class... No, nothing else about it matters, and I have no reserved seat. 1980 D. Williams Murder for Treasure v. 50 He too could have travelled in a reserved seat, untroubled, unmolested and delivered on time. |
c. Reserved List, a list of naval officers removed from active service but kept in reserve in case of being required. So
reserved officer,
reserved pay, etc.
| 1851 Lond. Gaz. No. 21222. 1673/1 These officers will be placed on reserved Half-pay. Ibid. 1673/2 In case of War, or of emergency,..to call such Officers from the Reserved List into Active Service. 1866 Chambers' Encycl. s.v. Reserved List, In the remote contingency of the Active List being exhausted,..these ‘reserved’ officers would be liable to be called upon to serve. |
d. In pottery decoration, etc.: left in the original colour of the material or the colour of the background.
| 1895 in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1930 Discovery Aug. 255/2 From the fourth level [of the excavations at Ur] came a peculiar form of painted pottery that has been termed ‘Reserved slip-ware’, the paint being applied to the whole body of the pot and then wiped off at intervals so as to produce a series of striations. 1934 [see high-lying s.v. high adv. 10 a]. 1954 M. Rickert Painting in Brit.: Middle Ages 231 Reserved edges, spaces left around a painted ornament exposing the vellum of a manuscript page. In Hiberno-Saxon decoration the reserved edges aid in clarifying a complicated pattern of spirals or interlace. 1960 K. M. Kenyon Archaeol. in Holy Land iii. 62 This slip in turn is partially covered by a red slip, so that the reserved portions of the cream slip form a pattern, usually in some combination of chevrons or triangles. 1977 Sci. Amer. Mar. 122/2 (caption) Pot d carries a ‘reserved’ design, produced by applying a red slip over an orange underslip. |
e. reserved occupation, a high-priority civilian occupation, most of those employed in which are exempted from military service.
| 1915 Local Govt. Board Circular No. R.2 2 A list has been prepared..of still further occupations (to be known as ‘reserved occupations’), to which, in the public interest, from the point of view of the export trade or for other reasons, it is desirable to extend some measure of protection, either because the persons included in them..are engaged in work which could not be interrupted without serious dislocation or because the industries affected are such that it would be unwise to take more men from them without special investigation. 1940 M. Nicholson How Britain's Resources are Mobilized 21 A Schedule of Reserved Occupations, designed to ensure that work of national importance should not be endangered through losing too many men to the armed forces. 1944 A. Thirkell Headmistress iv. 79 Her girls wished to go straight into the Forces..while their parents wanted them to..get a job in a reserved occupation. 1960 G. Butler Death lives Next Door i. 36 Never left England, not me. In a reserved occupation. 1972 M. Jones Life on Dole viii. 61 Mining was a reserved occupation, and even young men who wanted to get into uniform found themselves directed to the pits. |