maintain

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /meɪnˈteɪn/, /mənˈteɪn/

Verb

maintain (maintains, present participle maintaining; past and past participle maintained)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action. [14^th-19^thc.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:17.1?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter j], in Le Morte Darthur, book XV:

     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

2. To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.). [from 14^thc.]
3. To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert. [from 15^thc.]

Antonyms

• (to keep up) abandon

Translations

• French: entretenir
• German: unterhalten, warten, beibehalten, aufrechterhalten
• Italian: mantenere
• Portuguese: manter
• Russian: подде́рживать
• Spanish: mantener

Translations

• French: maintenir
• Portuguese: afirmar
• Spanish: mantener, sostener

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