sustenance C2+ Topic:Food & Drink US /ˈsʌstənəns/ UK /ˈsʌstənəns/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun food and drink regarded as necessary to sustain life The refugees lacked even basic sustenance after the siege. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · food and drink regarded as... nourishmentnutrimentfoodprovisionsfaresubsistencesupport ↔ Opposites starvationdeprivation Word family Related forms sustainsustainablesubsistence Etymology AI details From Old French sustenance ('support, maintenance'), from Latin sustinere ('to hold up, support'), from sub- ('up from below') + tenere ('to hold'). sustenance Old French tenēre Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Food & Drink External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # sustenance **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈsʌstənəns/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈsʌstənəns/ ## Meanings 1. food and drink regarded as necessary to sustain life ## Examples - The refugees lacked even basic sustenance after the siege. ## Synonyms - nourishment - nutriment - food - provisions - fare - subsistence - support ## Antonyms - starvation - deprivation ## Related Forms - sustain - sustainable - subsistence ## Roots and Affixes - Root: sustenance - Root: tenēre ## Etymology From Old French sustenance ('support, maintenance'), from Latin sustinere ('to hold up, support'), from sub- ('up from below') + tenere ('to hold'). ## AI Etymology Sustenance comes from Old French sustenance ('support, maintenance'), from Latin sustinere ('to hold up, support'), from sub- ('up from below') + tenere ('to hold'). The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As a noun, it carries the sense "food and drink regarded as necessary to sustain life", with the older formation still helping explain the modern use. Relevant historical forms include Old French sustenance and Latin tenēre. Related words include sustain, sustainable, subsistence. ## Topics - Food & Drink markdown