Wordwyrt

subsist

/səbˈsɪst/suhb-SIST
/səbˈsɪst/suhb-SIST

Meaningto stand still

Common meaning: to stay alive, barely

‘under’ + ‘to cause to stand, set’ → subsist

Journey through time

  1. Latinsubsistere‘to stand still’source
  2. Frenchsubsister‘to subsist’source
  3. Englishsubsist‘to stay alive, barely’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin sistō ‘to cause to stand, set’.

Roots

Related words

assistconsistdesistinconsistentinsistpersistresist

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