Wordwyrt

sustain

/səsˈteɪn/suh-STAYN
/səsˈteɪn/suh-STAYN

Meaningto uphold

Common meaning: to keep going

Journey through time

  1. Latinsustinere‘to uphold’source
  2. Old Frenchsustenirsource
  3. Middle Englishsusteinensource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsto uphold → to keep goingsustain‘to keep going’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin sustinere ‘to uphold’.

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app