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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

maintain.

To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/meɪnˈteɪn//mənˈteɪn/
  1. To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).

    maintain contact
    maintain order
  2. To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.

  3. To keep in good condition and working order.

  4. To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.

    obsolete · transitive
  5. 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.

    intransitive · slang
    No matter what, you gotta maintain.
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.