an arrangement you make in advance so that a seat, table, hotel room, ticket, or other service is kept for you
I called the restaurant and made a reservation for two at 7 p.m.
Without a reservation, all the hotel rooms were already taken.
✦ From French réservation, based on Latin reservare “to keep back.” First used in English in the 15th century for the act of keeping something back and later for advance booking in the 19th century.
a feeling of doubt or a reason for not fully accepting a plan, idea, or agreement
She agreed to the proposal, but with some reservations.
I still have serious reservations about moving overseas.
✦ Sense of “doubt” developed in the 17th century from the idea of holding something back in the mind.
in North America, an area of land kept for and governed by a particular Indigenous people
The Navajo Nation's reservation covers parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
Visitors must follow special rules when entering the tribal reservation.
✦ Adopted in the 18th century to describe land the U.S. government “reserved” for Indigenous nations.
