subsistent
Americanadjective
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subsisting, existing, or continuing in existence.
-
inherent.
subsistent qualities of character.
noun
Usage
What does subsistent mean? Subsistent describes existing or continuing to live. Subsistent is generally used to describe something that continues but doesn’t grow or get better. Something that is subsistent is barely enough, as in We grow all our own food, but we can only grow a subsistent amount. Subsistent also describes something that is inherent or built-in, such as our need to breathe in order to acquire oxygen. You may hear discussions about aspects of life or industries as being subsistent, meaning they are unavoidable. For example, grief is a subsistent part of life. Example: Some cultures were subsistent simply on farming and foraging.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of subsistent
1520–30; < Latin subsistent- (stem of subsistēns ), present participle of subsistere to remain; see subsist, -ent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wild bird eggs could certainly have been a substitute and impoverished, subsistent shepherds likely would have found those in the forest.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2023
This opinion would hold if the sensitive soul were subsistent, having being and operation of itself.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Thus the identity in character and operation, having been cut off from the changing elements in its real action, is transmuted into a substantial somewhat, a subsistent faculty.
From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Whence is existence itself but from the subsistent source of all being?
From Morality as a Religion An exposition of some first principles by Sullivan, W. R. Washington
Wherefore there can be but one subsistent filiation in God: just as there could be but one subsistent whiteness.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
