Dictionary

subsist en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /səbˈsɪst/

Etymology

From Latin subsistō (“halt, stop”), from sub (“below”) + sistō (“stand, place”). Compare consist, desist, exist, insist, persist.

Meanings

1. To survive on a minimum of resources.
   • It cannot be denied it is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation. 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 133:
   • Let us, this day, imitate his Example in both theſe Reſpects ; and whilſt we are enjoying the good things of Life, let us remember Thoſe that want even the Neceſſaries and firſt Conveniences of it : And remember them, as We ourſelves ſhould have deſired to be remembred, had it been our ſad Lot, to ſubſiſt on other Mens Charity. 1709 December 6, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preach’d before the Sons of the Clergy, London: Jonah Bowyer, page 28:
2. To have ontological reality; to exist.
   • Remember Man! "the Univerſal Cauſe / Acts not by partial, but by gen’ral Laws ; / And makes what Happineſs we juſtly call / Subſiſt not in the Good of one, but all. 1734, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 63, lines 33–36:
   • Subject to section 5(1), copyright subsists only by virtue of this Act. 2021, Parliament of Singapore, “Copyright Act 2021”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, Acts Supplementᵂⁱᵏⁱˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ, page 76:
3. To retain a certain state; to continue.
   • Firm we ſubſiſt, yet poſſible to ſwerve / Since Reaſon not impoſſibly may meet / Some ſpecious object by the Foe ſubornd, / And fall into deception unaware, / Not keeping ſtricteſt watch, as ſhe was warnd. 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 359–63:
   • If there is a choice between improving the lot of the poor but allowing inequality to subsist, or leaving the poor as they are and depressing everyone to their level, it is the second alternative that must be chosen. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 186:
   • It was impoſſible that the queen of France [Marie Antoinette] ſhould not be deeply affected by a conteſt, which ſo cloſely involved her neareſt and deareſt connections, and threatened ſo immediate and perhaps irreparable a breach of the harmony and friendſhip ſubſiſting between them. 1787, “The History of Europe”, in The Annual Register, or A View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Years 1784 and 1785, volume XXVII, London: Printed by J[ames] Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, →OCLC, chapter VIII, page 134, column 1:
4. (obsolete, transitive) To supply sustenance or subsistence to or for.
   • With mutual toil, and intuitive dexterity, we built our commodious habitation in the hollow of a mango tree, that the fruit, which was then in bloſſom, might ſubſiſt our young. 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 15:

Forms

Deriveds

consubsist

Relateds

subside · subsistence · subsistent

Translations (8)

es subsistir (to survive) · ru выживать (to survive) · bg преживявам (to survive) · pt subsistir (to survive) · fi kituuttaa (to survive) · fr subsister (to survive) · it sussistere (to survive) · ca subsistir (to survive)