subsistence

Definition

Real being; existence.

Etymology

From Middle English subsistence; partly from Middle French subsistence (modern French subsistance) and partly from its etymon Late Latin subsistentia (“substance, reality, in Medieval Latin also stability”), from Latin subsistēns, present participle of subsistere (“to continue, subsist”). Perhaps also partly from subsist + -ence.

Example Sentences

• "the human nature loseth its proper subsistence , and is assumed into the subsistence of the divine nature"
• "the subsistence of qualities in bodies"
• "In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will."