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sustenance

 - 3 dictionary results

sus⋅te⋅nance

  [suhs-tuh-nuhns]
Use sustenance in a Sentence
–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; ME sustena(u)nce < AF; OF sostenance. See sustain, -ance

Related forms:
sus⋅te⋅nance⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sus·te·nance   (sŭs'tə-nəns)   
n.  

    1. The act of sustaining.

    2. The condition of being sustained.

  2. The supporting of life or health; maintenance: "to deliver in every morning six beeves, forty sheep, and other victuals for my sustenance" (Jonathan Swift).

  3. Something, especially food, that sustains life or health.

  4. Means of livelihood.


[Middle English, from Old French, from sustenir, to sustain; see sustain.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sustenance 
1297, "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 c.1386. Sense of "nourishment" is recorded from c.1489.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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