subsistence

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for subsistence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Etymology

From Late Latin subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from Latin subsistens, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). See subsist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səbˈsɪstəns/

Noun

subsistence (countable and uncountable, plural subsistences)

1. Real being; existence.
2. The act of maintaining oneself at a minimum level.
3. Inherency.

   the subsistence of qualities in bodies

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.

5. (theology) Embodiment or personification or hypostasis of an underlying principle or quality.

Synonyms

• (real being): See also Thesaurus:existence
• (something required to stay alive): sustenance
• (theology): hypostasis

Related terms

• subsist
• subsistent
• subsistence economy

Translations

means of support

• Czech: obživa f
• German: Auskommen (de) n, Lebensunterhalt (de) m
• Interlingua: subsistentia
• Irish: cothabháil f
• Portuguese: subsistência (pt) f
• Romanian: subzistență (ro), mijloace de trai

• Russian: прожи́тие (ru) n (prožítije), прожи́ток (ru) m (prožítok), пропита́ние (ru) n (propitánije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: издржавање

  Roman: izdržavanje (sh)

• Spanish: subsistencia (es) f
• Swedish: underhåll (sv)

Further reading

• subsistence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• subsistence in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911