maintain

[ meyn-teyn ]
/ meɪnˈteɪn /

verb (used with object)

Origin of maintain

1200–50; Middle English mainteinen < Old French maintenir ≪ Medieval Latin manūtenēre, Latin manū tenēre literally, to hold in hand, equivalent to manū, ablative of manus hand (see manual) + tenēre to hold (see tenet)

synonym study for maintain

4. Maintain, assert, aver, allege, hold, state all mean to express an opinion, judgment, or position. Maintain carries the implications of both firmness and persistence in declaring or supporting a conviction: She maintained her client's innocence even in the face of damaging evidence. Assert suggests assurance, confidence, and sometimes aggressiveness in the effort to persuade others to agree with or accept one's position: He asserted again and again the government's right to control the waterway. Aver, like assert, implies confident declaration and sometimes suggests a firmly positive or peremptory tone; in legal use aver means “to allege as fact”: to aver that the evidence is incontrovertible. Allege indicates a statement without evidence to support it, and thus can imply doubt as to the validity or accuracy of an assertion: The official is alleged to have been unaware of the crime. Hold means simply to have or express a conviction or belief: We hold these truths to be self-evident; She held that her rights had been violated. State usually suggests a declaration that is forthright and unambiguous: He stated his reasons in clear, simple language. 7. See support.

OTHER WORDS FROM maintain

Example sentences from the Web for maintainable

  • I again mounted the ass, but found my sideward and unsupported seat only maintainable by a gymnastic of the severest order.

    From the Oak to the Olive |Julia Ward Howe
  • The chief-justice said that the action was not maintainable, as the status of slavery did not exist in England.

  • Where there was a garnishment given touching a plea of land, a writ of deceit is also maintainable.

British Dictionary definitions for maintainable

maintain
/ (meɪnˈteɪn) /

verb (tr)

to continue or retain; keep in existence
to keep in proper or good condition to maintain a building
to support a style of living the money maintained us for a month
(takes a clause as object) to state or assert he maintained that Talbot was wrong
to defend against contradiction; uphold she maintained her innocence
to defend against physical attack

Derived forms of maintain

maintainable, adjective maintainer, noun

Word Origin for maintain

C13: from Old French maintenir, ultimately from Latin manū tenēre to hold in the hand