subsistence
/səbˈsɪstəns/
subsistence noun: real being; existence.
Noun
subsistence (countable and uncountable, plural subsistences)
- Real being; existence.
- the human nature loseth its proper subsistence , and is assumed into the subsistence of the divine nature1686, Edward Stillingfleet, the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome
- The act of maintaining oneself at a minimum level.
- Inherency.
- the subsistence of qualities in bodies
- Something (food, water, money, etc.) that is required to stay alive.
- In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will.1788, Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, Dawson, Federalist 79, page 548
- His viceroy could only propose to himself a comfortable subsistence out of the plunder of his province.1716 February 2 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 10. Sunday, January 23. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […]...
- Synonyms:
- sustenance
- Embodiment or personification or hypostasis of an underlying principle or quality.
subsistence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
subsistence in Hindi
- means of support
- आजीविका ājīvikā, जीविका jīvikā
subsistence in Tamil
- பிழைத்திருத்தல், பிழைப்பு, பிழைப்பூதியம், வாழ்க்கைப்படி, வாழ்வு, வாழ்வுத் தேவை
subsistence in Marathi
- उदरनिर्वाह, निर्वाह
subsistence in Urdu
- آب و دانہ, گزارہ, نمک, رزق
More languagesFewer languages
- subsistence in Bengali
- জীবিকা, অস্তিত্ব রক্ষা
- subsistence in Telugu
- బత్తెము battemu, గ్రాసము grāsamu, బతుకు batuku
- subsistence in Malayalam
- ഉപജീവനം upajīvanaṁ
- subsistence in Kannada
- ಇರುವುದು, ಇರುವಿಕೆ, ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವ, ಬಾಳ್ವಿಕೆ
- subsistence in Punjabi
- ਗੁਜ਼ਾਰਾ
- subsistence in Gujarati
- નિર્વાહ
- subsistence in Sanskrit
- वृत्त vṛttá
- subsistence in Nepali
- जीविकोपार्जन
- subsistence in Arabic
- كَفَاف kafāf
Examples of subsistence in a sentence
- Most families in the village are barely on the subsistence level.
- In Manchuria, changes in subsistence and sedentism can be traced through time and between regions.
- The subsistence and mass identification of phenomena like the Mandela Effect could only come to fruition in the Internet Age.
Synonyms of subsistence
Forms of subsistence
| plural | subsistences |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | subsistance |
Origin of subsistence
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.
Words formed from subsistence
Phrases with subsistence
Words that rhyme with subsistence
Questions about subsistence
- What does subsistence mean?
- Subsistence means real being; existence.
- What is subsistence in Hindi?
- Subsistence in Hindi is आजीविका (ājīvikā), जीविका (jīvikā). See Subsistence meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is subsistence?
- Subsistence is a noun.
- How do you pronounce subsistence?
- Subsistence is pronounced /səbˈsɪstəns/.
- What is the plural of subsistence?
- The plural of subsistence is subsistences.
Words near subsistence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: subsistence (page history and authors); subsistence (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subsistence (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subsistence (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subsistence (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); గ్రాసము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഉപജീവനം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); subsistence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subsistence (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subsistence (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); वृत्त (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); subsistence (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-subsistence.wav.
Cite this entry: “subsistence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subsistence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.