Alternative forms

• subsistance (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#SUBSISTENCECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#SUBSISTENCE subsistence; partly from Middle FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#SUBSISTENCE subsistence (modern French subsistance) and partly from its etymon Late LatinCategory:English terms derived from Late Latin#SUBSISTENCE subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#SUBSISTENCE subsistēns, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). Perhaps also partly from subsist +‎ -enceCategory:English terms suffixed with -ence#SUBSISTENCE.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səbˈsɪstəns/Category:English 3-syllable words#SUBSISTENCECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#SUBSISTENCE

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#SUBSISTENCE
• Rhymes: -ɪstənsCategory:Rhymes:English/ɪstəns#SUBSISTENCECategory:Rhymes:English/ɪstəns/3 syllables#SUBSISTENCE

Noun

subsistence (countable and uncountable, plural subsistences)Category:English lemmas#SUBSISTENCECategory:English nouns#SUBSISTENCECategory:English uncountable nouns#SUBSISTENCECategory:English countable nouns#SUBSISTENCECategory:English countable nouns#SUBSISTENCECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#SUBSISTENCECategory:Pages with entries#SUBSISTENCECategory:Pages with 1 entry#SUBSISTENCE

1. Real being; existence.
   • 1686, Edward Stillingfleet, the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome:

     the human nature loseth its proper subsistence , and is assumed into the subsistence of the divine nature

     Category:English terms with quotations#SUBSISTENCE

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
2. The act of maintaining oneself at a minimum level.
3. Inherency.

   the subsistence of qualities in bodiesCategory:English terms with usage examples#SUBSISTENCE

4. Something (food, water, money, etc.) that is required to stay alive.
   • 1788, Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, Dawson, Federalist 79, page 548:

     In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SUBSISTENCE

   • 1716 February 3 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 10. Monday, January 23. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:

     His viceroy could only propose to himself a comfortable subsistence out of the plunder of his province.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SUBSISTENCE

5. (theologyCategory:en:Theology#SUBSISTENCE) Embodiment or personification or hypostasis of an underlying principle or quality.

References

Further reading

• “subsistence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “subsistence”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.