meintenir

Old French

Alternative forms

• maintenir

Etymology

main +‎ tenir, calque of Latin manūs teneō

Verb

meintenir

1. to maintain (to keep the same)
   • c. 1250, Marie de France, Equitan:

     Tut sa terre li guardout
     E meinteneit e justisout

     He looked after all his land
     And upheld justice

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem meintien distinct from the unstressed stem meinten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of meintenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		meintenir			avoir meintenu
gerund		en meintenant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		meintenant
past participle		meintenu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	meintieng, meintien	meintiens	meintient	meintenons	meintenez	meintienent
	imperfect	meintenoie, meinteneie	meintenoies, meinteneies	meintenoit, meinteneit	meinteniiens, meinteniens	meinteniiez, meinteniez	meintenoient, meinteneient
	preterite	meintin	meintenis	meintint	meintenimes	meintenistes	meintindrent, meintinrent
	future	meintendrai	meintendras	meintendra	meintendrons	meintendroiz, meintendreiz, meintendrez	meintendront
	conditional	meintendroie, meintendreie	meintendroies, meintendreies	meintendroit, meintendreit	meintendriiens, meintendriens	meintendriiez, meintendriez	meintendroient, meintendreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	meintiegne	meintiegnes	meintiegne	meintiegniens, meintiegnons	meintiegniez	meintiegnent
	imperfect	meintenisse	meintenisses	meintenist	meintenissons, meintenissiens	meintenissoiz, meintenissez, meintenissiez	meintenissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	meintien	—	meintenons	meintenez	—

Descendants

• English: to maintain