Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Maintain — Main*tain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Maintained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Maintaining}.] [OE. maintenen, F. maintenir, properly, to hold by the hand; main hand (L. manus) + F. tenir to hold (L. tenere). See {Manual}, and Tenable.] 1. To hold or keep in any… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
maintain — main‧tain [meɪnˈteɪn, mən ] verb [transitive] 1. to make something continue in the same way or at the same high standard as before: • It is impossible to maintain exports at past levels. • To maintain sales growth, the company plans to unveil a… … Financial and business terms
maintain — maintain, assert, defend, vindicate, justify are comparable when they mean to uphold as true, right, just, valid, or worthy of notice or acceptance in the face of opposition or indifference. Maintain implies a firmness of conviction. When this… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
maintain — I (carry on) verb adfirmare, confirmare, contendere, continue, follow up, go on, keep alive, keep going, keep on, keep up, perpetuate, persevere, persist, proceed with, prolong, pursue, shore up, stick to II (commence) verb activate, b … Law dictionary
maintain — [mān tān′] vt. [ME mainteinen < OFr maintenir < ML manutenere < L manu tenere, to hold in the hand < manu, abl. of manus, hand + tenere, to hold: see MANUAL & TENANT] 1. to keep or keep up; continue in or with; carry on 2. a) to keep… … English World dictionary
Maintain — Allgemeine Informationen Genre(s) Metalcore Gründung 1998 Website http://www.maintain hc.de … Deutsch Wikipedia
maintain — [v1] care for, keep up advance, carry on, conserve, continue, control, cultivate, finance, go on with, guard, keep, keep going, look after, manage, nurture, perpetuate, persevere, preserve, prolong, protect, provide, renew, repair, retain, save,… … New thesaurus
maintain — (v.) mid 13c., to practice habitually, from Anglo Fr. meintenir (O.Fr. maintenir, 12c.) keep (a wife), sustain; persevere in, practice continually, from L. manu tenere hold in the hand, from manu, ablative of manus hand (see MANUAL (Cf. manual))… … Etymology dictionary
maintain — ► VERB 1) cause or enable (a condition or state of affairs) to continue. 2) keep (a building, machine, etc.) in good condition by checking or repairing it regularly. 3) provide with necessities for life or existence. 4) assert to be the case.… … English terms dictionary
maintain — 01. Tian Hsu works hard to [maintain] close friendships with the students she studied with in London. 02. The roads haven t been properly [maintained], and now are full of cracks and potholes. 03. The President always [maintained] that he didn t… … Grammatical examples in English
maintain — [[t]meɪnte͟ɪn[/t]] ♦♦ maintains, maintaining, maintained 1) VERB If you maintain something, you continue to have it, and do not let it stop or grow weaker. [V n] The Department maintains many close contacts with the chemical industry... [V n]… … English dictionary
