What does subsist mean?

Definitions for subsist
səbˈsɪstsub·sist

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word subsist.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. exist, survive, live, subsistverb

    support oneself

    "he could barely exist on such a low wage"; "Can you live on $2000 a month in New York City?"; "Many people in the world have to subsist on $1 a day"

Wiktionary

  1. subsistverb

    To survive on a minimum of resources.

    With her current income, Janet cannot thrive, she can only subsist.

  2. Etymology: From subsister, from subsistere, from sub + sistere. Compare consist, desist, exist, insist, persist.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To SUBSISTverb

    Etymology: subsister, Fr. subsisto, Latin.

    Firm we subsist, but possible to swerve. John Milton.

    The very foundation was removed, and it was a moral impossibility that the republick could subsist any longer. Jonathan Swift.

    He shone so powerfully upon me, that like the heat of a Russian summer, he ripened the fruits of poetry in a cold climate; and gave me wherewithal to subsist in the long winter which succeeded. Dryden.

    Let us remember those that want necessaries, as we ourselves should have desired to be remembred, had it been our sad lot to subsist on other mens charity. Francis Atterbury.

    Though the general natures of these qualities are sufficiently distant from one another, yet when they come to subsist in particulars, and to be clothed with several accidents, then the discernment is not so easy. Robert South, Sermons.

Wikipedia

  1. subsist

    A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence economy is moneyless and relies on natural resources to provide for basic needs through hunting, gathering, and agriculture. In a subsistence economy, economic surplus is minimal and only used to trade for basic goods, and there is no industrialization. In hunting and gathering societies, resources are often if not typically underused.In human history, before the first cities, all humans lived in a subsistence economy. As urbanization, civilization, and division of labor spread, various societies moved to other economic systems at various times. Some remain relatively unchanged, ranging from uncontacted peoples, to marginalized areas of developing countries, to some cultures that choose to retain a traditional economy. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested with the expectation that their value will increase, usually because there is the expectation of profit, rent, interest, royalties, capital gain or some other kind of return. However, this type of economy cannot usually become wealthy by virtue of the system, and instead requires further investments to stimulate economic growth. In other words, a subsistence economy only possesses enough goods to be used by a particular nation to maintain its existence and provides little to no surplus for other investments.It is common for a surplus capital to be invested in social capital such as feasting.

ChatGPT

  1. subsist

    Subsist refers to the act of maintaining or supporting oneself, especially at a minimal level. It can also mean to continue to exist or live, often under challenging conditions or circumstances.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Subsistverb

    to be; to have existence; to inhere

  2. Subsistverb

    to continue; to retain a certain state

  3. Subsistverb

    to be maintained with food and clothing; to be supported; to live

  4. Subsistverb

    to support with provisions; to feed; to maintain; as, to subsist one's family

  5. Etymology: [L. subsistere to stand still, stay, remain alive; sub under + sistere to stand, to cause to stand, from stare to stand: cf. F. subsister. See Stand.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Subsist

    sub-sist′, v.i. to have existence: to remain, continue, inhere: to have the means of living.—n. Subsist′ence, state of being subsistent: real being: means of supporting life: livelihood.—adjs. Subsist′ent, subsisting: having real being: inherent; Subsisten′tial.—n. Subsist′er. [Fr.,—L. subsistĕre, to stand still—sub, under, sistĕre, to stand.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. subsist

    To support with provisions; to feed; to maintain.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of subsist in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of subsist in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of subsist in a Sentence

  1. Samuel Johnson:

    Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.

  2. George Eliot:

    It is, I fear, but a vain show of fulfilling the heathen precept, Know thyself, and too often leads to a self-estimate which will subsist in the absence of that fruit by which alone the quality of the tree is made evident.

  3. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

    The essence of the modern state is that the universal be bound up with the complete freedom of its particular members and with private well-being, that thus the interests of family and civil society must concentrate themselves on the state. It is only when both these moments subsist in their strength that the state can be regarded as articulated and genuinely organized.

  4. John Winthrop:

    Liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is liberty to that which is good, just, and honest.

  5. J. Gresham Machen:

    Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

subsist#10000#78839#100000

Translations for subsist

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"subsist." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/subsist>.

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    the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury
    A peccadillo
    B impurity
    C pluck
    D muddle

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