sustenance
pronunciation
How to pronounce sustenance in British English:
UK [ˈsʌstənəns]
How to pronounce sustenance in American English:
US [ˈsʌstənəns]
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- Noun:
- a source of materials to nourish the body
- the financial means whereby one lives
- the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence
Word Origin
- sustenance (n.)
- c. 1300, "means of living, subsistence, livelihood," from Old French sostenance "support, aid" (Modern French soutenance), from Late Latin sustinentia "endurance," from present participle stem of Latin sustinere (see sustain). Meaning "action of sustaining life by food" is from late 14c. Sense of "nourishment" is recorded from late 15c. Related: Sustenant.
Example
- 1. Hindus revere cows , believing that they offer sustenance and ask nothing in return .
- 2. Called ' hearts run dry ' , it parallels the pain of rural drought with the death of relationships left without sustenance .
- 3. Unemployment has hit a record high of 21 percent , and thousands of greeks depend on church and municipal soup kitchens for sustenance .
- 4. Why should the state not intervene in the market to order children out of chimneys and into schools , or to provide sustenance for the hungry and unemployed or to rescue failing industries ?
- 5. In famine-plagued somalia there has been a reported mass die-off of camels -- a source of transportation livelihood and sustenance for many families .