subsistence

C2 Topic:Food & Drink

Also spelled subsistance

US /səbˈsɪstəns/ See IPA manual

Freq #57539

Meanings

1

noun
The food, money, or other things a person needs simply to stay alive.

The tiny wage barely covered their daily subsistence.
2

noun
The state of surviving on the smallest possible amount of resources.

Many families there live at the level of bare subsistence.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the food, money, or other... sustenance

More hypostasis

Word family

Derived forms consubsistencesubsistential

Related forms subsist subsistent

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

subsistence level
a standard of living that barely provides the essentials for survival

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English subsistence; partly from Middle French subsistence (modern French subsistance) and partly from its etymon Late Latin subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from Latin subsistēns, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). Perhaps also partly from subsist + -ence.

subsistence Middle English subsistentia la-lat subsistēns Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# subsistence

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /səbˈsɪstəns/
**Frequency rank:** 57539

## Meanings
1. The food, money, or other things a person needs simply to stay alive.
2. The state of surviving on the smallest possible amount of resources.

## Examples
- The tiny wage barely covered their daily subsistence.
- Many families there live at the level of bare subsistence.

## Synonyms
- hypostasis

## Derived Forms
- consubsistence
- subsistential

## Related Forms
- subsist
- subsistent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: subsistence
- Root: subsistentia
- Root: subsistēns

## Etymology
From Middle English subsistence; partly from Middle French subsistence (modern French subsistance) and partly from its etymon Late Latin subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from Latin subsistēns, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). Perhaps also partly from subsist + -ence.

## AI Etymology
Subsistence is from Middle English subsistence; partly from Middle French subsistence (modern French subsistance) and partly from its etymon Late Latin subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from Latin subsistēns, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). Perhaps also partly from subsist + -ence. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include subsistence (Middle English), subsistentia (la-lat), and subsistēns (Latin). Current senses include the food, money, or other things a person needs simply to stay alive and the state of surviving on the smallest possible amount of resources. The wider family includes derived forms such as consubsistence and subsistential and related words such as subsist and subsistent.

## Topics
- Food & Drink
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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