maintenance

Etymology

From Middle English mayntenaunce, from Old French maintenance, from maintenir, from Latin manus tenēre (“to hold in the hand”).

Note that maintain has undergone a sound and spelling change, hence is spelt with -tain-, rather than the -ten- still found in maintenance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪnt(ə)nəns/, /ˈmeɪntɪnəns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

maintenance (usually uncountable, plural maintenances)

1. Actions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service
2. (law) A tort committed when a third party who does not have a bona fide interest in a lawsuit provides help or acquires an interest to a litigant's lawsuit.
3. (law, Britain) Alimony, a periodical payment or a lump sum made or ordered to be made to a spouse after a divorce.
4. (law) Child support.
5. Money required or spent to provide for the needs of a person or a family.
6. (biology) The natural process which keeps an organism alive.

Further reading

• maintenance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• maintenance in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• maintenance at OneLook Dictionary Search

Etymology

maintenir (“to maintain”) +‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ̃t.nɑ̃s/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

maintenance f (plural maintenances)

1. maintenance

Further reading

• “maintenance” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).