maintain

Pronunciation

• IPA: /meɪnˈteɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English maintenen, mayntenen, mainteinen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman meintenir, Old French maintenir “to keep a wife, sustain; persevere in, practise continually”,^[2][3] from Medieval Latin manutenēre,^[5][4] from Latin manū tenēre (“to hold in the hand”),^[2][3] from manū, the ablative of manus (“hand”), and tenēre “to hold”.^[2][3][5] Merriam-Webster notes that the Latin phrase meant “to know for certain”.^[4] It is related to maintenance, manual and tenant.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To practise habitually”, before 1250 in the OED;^[7] “to support, uphold, aid” and “to hold fast, keep in possession” about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Hoad gives “to support the person or cause of” from the 13th century.^[6] “To hold in an existing state, keep in existence” is from the early 14th century,^[2] “to carry on, keep up”, as a war, from the mid-14th century,^[2][7] and “to defend in speech, uphold by argument” also from the mid-14th century.^[2] “To keep oneself, support” is from the late 14th century,^[2] and “to furnish the means of subsistence for”, to provide for a family, from about 1400.^[2] Maintenance, first before 1333, also meant support of a party in a lawsuit.^[3][6] In Leicestershire, to maintain causes was to pay one's way.^[8]

Timeline

• a. 1250 – to practise habitually.^[7]
• c. 1300 – to support, uphold.^[2][3]
• early 14th century – to keep in existence.^[2]
• mid-14th century – to carry on; to assert.^[2]
• c. 1400 – to provide for.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To keep up or carry on; to continue.
2. To keep in an existing state; to preserve.
3. To keep in good repair or working order.
4. To provide for; to support: maintain a family.
5. To defend against criticism or attack.
6. To declare to be true; to assert: maintained his innocence.

Word family

• maintainability
• maintainable
• maintainer
• undermaintain

Related words

• maintenance
• manual
• tenant
• manuscript
• sustain
• retain

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)