Where does “maintain” come from?
Maintain comes from Middle English mayntenen, from Old French maintenir meaning "to hold in the hand," from Latin manus "hand" and tenere "to hold."
maintain (English): To support , to back up or assist in an action;...
Definitions
- To support , to back up or assist in an action;...
Ancestry of “maintain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | mayntenen | — |
| 2 | Old French | maintenir | to maintain |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | manuteneo | I support, maintain |
| 4 | Latin | manu | ablative singular of manus; by hand; with the... |
| 5 | Latin | manus | hand; bravery, valor; violence, fighting |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | manus | hand |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | man- | human being; man; hand |
Words derived from “maintain”