subsistir

Forms

subsistir (first-person singular present subsisto, first-person singular preterite subsistí, past participle subsistido)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin subsistō (“to stand firm, stop short”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed sub- (“under”) and sistō (“to cause to stand, set up”);^[5][6] in Medieval Latin it had taken on the senses “to remain alive” and, of things, “to last, exist”.^[7][8] The simple verb goes back to the root Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), the root of stō (“to stand”) as well.^[1]

The DCECH treats the verb with the other learned verbs in ⟨-sistir⟩ (asistir, consistir, insistir, resistir) under existir.^[2] The same Latin verb gave Catalan subsistir, Portuguese subsistir, French subsister and Italian sussistere.^[9][1] Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario (1490), in a philosophical sense: individuals not only subsisten “subsist” like genera and species, but also endure.^[11] In 1498 the Spanish translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery uses it of a disease remaining within the body.^[11][12] Corominas dated the word from Oudin's dictionary of 1607 and a text of Betissana of 1687.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb was mostly theological, of the being with which something exists, as in Luis de Granada (1557).^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades gives two senses, “to remain, last or be preserved” and, in philosophy, “to exist by oneself in one's own nature and being”.^[13] Terreros added “to live” and “to support oneself”, with the example of courtiers who live on the king's pay.^[14] The Academy accepted the sense “to have the means to meet the needs of life” in 1843, and in 1899 replaced it with a reference to vivir.^[15][16] The DLE now gives “to last, remain”, “to stay alive” and the philosophical sense.^[4]

In the Americas the word is recorded from 1697 in Mexico, in legal and administrative prose.^[17]

Timeline

• 1490 – first record in the CDH, in Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario.^[11]
• 1498 – the Spanish translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery.^[11][12]
• 1557 – Luis de Granada uses it in a theological sense.^[11]
• 1607 – Oudin's dictionary, the first record known to Corominas.^[2][3]
• 1697 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[17]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it, with a quotation from Betissana.^[13]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the sense “to have the means of living”.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin subsistere.^[18]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a thing: to remain, last or be preserved: Todavía subsisten restos de la muralla.^[4][19]
2. (intransitive) To stay alive, to subsist: Muchas familias subsisten con un solo sueldo.^[4][20]
3. (intransitive, philosophy) Of a substance (sustancia): to exist with all the conditions proper to its being and nature.^[4]

Word family

• subsistencia
• subsistente

Related words

• existir
• insistir
• persistir
• resistir
• Latin subsistō

Usage notes

Malaret recorded a Peruvian use of subsistir for living together without being married.^[21][22] Alemany noted that soldiers in Ecuador used it for “to be absent”.^[23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 824
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. existir
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. subsistir
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 743
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. subsistir
11. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. subsistir
12. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 540
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 679
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 931
17. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. subsistir
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 993
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subsistir
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. subsistir
21. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 749
22. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 102
23. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1539