English

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Etymology

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From Middle English sustenaunce, from Old French sustenance, from sustenir with the suffix -ance, from Vulgar Latin *sustenire, from Latin sustinere. Compare also Late Latin sustinentia.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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sustenance (countable and uncountable, plural sustenances)

  1. Something that provides support or nourishment.
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion[1]:
      More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.

Derived terms

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Translations

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