Dictionary

maintain en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /mənˈteɪn/
• /meɪnˈteɪn/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English mayntenen, from Old French maintenir, from Late Latin manūteneō, manūtenēre (“I support”), from Latin manū (“with/in/by the hand”, ablative of manus) + tenēre (“to hold”).

Meanings

1. To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).
   • Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table. 2011 November 5, Phil Dawkes, “QPR 2-3 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
   • Ther[idamas]. Won with thy words, & conquered with thy lookes, I yeeld my ſelfe, my men & horſe to thee: To be partaker of thy good or ill, As long as life maintaines Theridimas. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
   • This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • maintain a relationship
   • maintain order
   • She struggled to maintain her composure under pressure.
   • It’s important to maintain good posture while sitting.
   • maintain contact
   • Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages. 2013 March 14, Nancy Langston, “Mining the Boreal North”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 98:
2. To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.
   • Rail Minister Lord Hendy was quizzed by the same MPs at an earlier hearing. He maintained that the Bill gave Mayors "much enhanced power" and preserved the existing processes by which rail services can be devolved. "The intention, more widely, is to work collaboratively with all devolved leaders to meet local needs," he said. "It has to be tempered by the reality, which is that the railway network is not generally consistent with mayoral boundaries. […]". 2026 March 18, Peter Plisner, “Will devolution deliver real local control?”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 47:
   • She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door." 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
   • Pullman traditionalists will no doubt maintain that the full-service-at-every-seat principle is popular with their clientele; [...]. 1962 December, “A new Pullman era?”, in Modern Railways, page 362:
3. To keep in good condition and working order.
   • The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order. 1946 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 213:
4. (obsolete, transitive) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
   • And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man. 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “j”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XV:
   • When I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my Father; where, by the Aſſiſtance of him and my Uncle John, and ſome other Relations, I got forty Pounds, and a Promiſe of thirty Pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden: there I ſtudied Phyſick two years and ſeven months, knowing it would be uſeful in long Voyages. 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 2:
5. (intransitive, qualifier:African-American Vernacular, slang) To keep composed; to keep one's head up; to stay confident, strong, self-assured; to avoid being a victim; to keep oneself from falling apart.
   • No matter what, you gotta maintain.

Forms

Antonyms

abandon (antonym(s) of “to keep up”)

Deriveds

undermaintain · mismaintain · maintainability · maintainment · maingain · maingaining · maintainable · maintain appearances

Synonyms

subsist

Translations (65)

ar حَافَظَ (to keep up) · fr maintenir (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · zdj uɗumisha (to keep up) · hi बनाए रखना (to keep up) · de unterhalten (to keep up) · es sostener (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · ja 維持する (to keep up) · la tueor (to keep up) · pl utrzymywać (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · ka შენარჩუნება (to keep up) · ja 保つ (to keep up) · bg поддържам (to keep up) · cs udržovat (to keep up) · sa धरति (to keep up) · cmn 維持 /维持 (to keep up) · no opprettholde (to keep up) · pl utrzymywać (to keep up) · fi hoitaa (to keep up) · fr entretenir (to keep up) · mi whakanonoi (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · pl utrzymać (to keep up) · ro afirma (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · ca mantenir (to keep up) · de warten (to keep up) · de aufrechterhalten (to keep up) · grc διασῴζω (to keep up) · es manutener (to keep up) · el ισχυρίζομαι (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · hu fenntart (to keep up) · es mantener (to keep up) · de beibehalten (to keep up) · ru поддержа́ть (to keep up) · io mantenar (to keep up) · sv bibehålla (to keep up) · uk підтри́мувати (to keep up) · bg отстоявам (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · nl handhaven (to keep up) · ko 유지하다 (to keep up) · la habeo (to keep up) · fi pitää (to keep up) · da vedligeholde (to keep up) · pt manter (to keep up) · hu tart (to keep up) · hu karbantart (to keep up) · fi esittää (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · mi tautiaki (to keep up) · ru подде́рживать (to keep up) · ca mantenir (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · it mantenere (to keep up) · es mantener (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · oc manténer (to keep up) · sw dumisha (to keep up) · eo bonteni (to keep up) · pt afirmar (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true) · fi ylläpitää (to keep up) · mi tuarā (to keep up) · no vedlikeholde (to keep up) · grc διατηρέω (to keep up) · el διατηρώ (to keep up) · sv upphålla (to keep up) · ro menține (to keep up) · fi säilyttää (to keep up) · ga coinnigh (to keep up) · no bevare (to keep up) · fi väittää (to declare or affirm a point of view to be true)