subsist

American  

[suhb-sist] / səbˈsɪst /

verb (used without object)

1. to exist; continue in existence.

2. to remain alive; live, as on food, resources, etc.

3. to have existence in, or by reason of, something.

4. to reside, lie, or consist (usually followed byin ).

5. Philosophy.

   1. to have timeless or abstract existence, as a number, relation, etc.

   2. to have existence, especially independent existence.

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verb (used with object)

1. to provide sustenance or support for; maintain.

subsist British  

/ səbˈsɪst /

verb

1. (often foll by on) to be sustained; manage to live

   to subsist on milk

2. to continue in existence

3. (foll by in) to lie or reside by virtue (of); consist

4. philosophy

   1. to exist as a concept or relation rather than a fact

   2. to be conceivable

5. obsolete (tr) to provide with support

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Other Word Forms

• presubsist verb (used without object)
• self-subsisting adjective
• subsistent adjective
• subsister noun
• subsistingly adverb
• supersubsist verb (used without object)

Etymology

Origin of subsist

1540–50; < Latin subsistere to remain, equivalent to sub- sub- + sistere to stand, make stand; stand

Example Sentences

Maekar recoils at the thought of a child of royal birth subsisting on salted beef.

From Salon

Per capita disposable income in cities is less than $700 a month, while in the countryside as many as several hundred million people subsist on just a few dollars each day.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even Oliver, a man who long subsisted on dips, has nothing bad to say.

From Salon

The men ran out of food, subsisting on what they scrounged up: vitamins pills and pancake mix.

From Los Angeles Times

Back before California was settled by Europeans and others, the Miwok and Nisenan subsisted on a hunter-gatherer diet of acorns, venison, salmon, pine nuts, elderberries, and other berries and plants.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• get along
• get by
• scrape by