self-sustenance

sus·te·nance

[suhs-tuh-nuhns]
noun
1.
means of sustaining life; nourishment.
2.
means of livelihood.
3.
the process of sustaining.
4.
the state of being sustained.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English sustena(u)nce < Anglo-French; Old French sostenance. See sustain, -ance

sus·te·nance·less, adjective
non·sus·te·nance, noun
self-sus·te·nance, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To self-sustenance
00:10
Self-sustenance is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
sustenance (ˈsʌstənəns) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  means of sustaining health or life; nourishment
2.  means of maintenance; livelihood
3.  Also: sustention the act or process of sustaining or the quality of being sustained
 
[C13: from Old French sostenance, from sustenir to sustain]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sustenance
c.1300, "means of living, subsistence, livelihood," from O.Fr. sustenance (Fr. soutenance), from L.L. sustinentia "endurance," from L. sustinens, prp. of sustinere (see sustain). Meaning "action of sustaining life by food" is from late 14c. Sense of "nourishment" is recorded from c.1489.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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