subsistn.
/səbˈsɪst/, U.S. /səbˈsɪst/ Chiefly Mining (now historical).
I. Compounds.† 2. subsist week n. Obsolete rare a week for which subsist money is paid.
1. subsist money n. = subsistence money n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > pay in advance
prest1359
press money1434
imprest1568
impress1600
fore-wages1606
subsistence money1677
subsistence1688
subsist money1749
sub1779
sub money1779
subsist1814
subsistence allowance1860
1749 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1919) 3rd Ser. 9 15 Paid Michill Walton his Dew for Subsist money this 10 day of August.
1818 Times 14 Oct. 3/4 The subsist money for certain periods should be entered in the cost-book monthly, or otherwise.
1835 in Notes & Queries (1900) 9th Ser. 6 246/2 Agree to pay..Subsist Money each and every fortnight in such sums as may be agreeable to the Parties.
1843 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 6 22/2 In the preceding account, no notice is taken of truck system, tommy shops..or subsist money.
1905 Deb. House of Assembly 17th Parl. S. Austral. 3rd Sess. 205/1 [3 Aug., 1904] If a man was wanted temporarily at Quorn or Petersburg it was better in his own interests that he should go for five or six weeks and get 12/6 a week subsist money than it would be to compel him to move his family up there.
1985 J. Moss Sound Trumpets vii. 85 A memorial signed by 280 miners and addressed to the directors requested an increase in wages to 45 shillings a week, subsist money payable fortnightly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > as a unit for reckoning work, etc. > week for which subsistence wages are paid
subsist week1843
1843 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 6 22/2 The cuttings are measured generally every fortnight, the intervening time being subsist weeks, when the pay is on account.
II. Simple uses.
3. The payment of wages on account; (also) (an amount of) money advanced in this way. Cf. sub n.6, subsistence money n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > pay in advance
prest1359
press money1434
imprest1568
impress1600
fore-wages1606
subsistence money1677
subsistence1688
subsist money1749
sub1779
sub money1779
subsist1814
subsistence allowance1860
1814 J. Taylor in Trans. Geol. Soc. 2 320 He is debited..with cash advanced, called subsist.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 146 There is a custom of advancing money to the miners called subsist, that they may live until the value of their two months' earnings is determined.
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 65 Sub, subsist, or subsistence, payment of wages to account.
1912 98th Ann. Rep. Royal Geol. Soc. Cornwall 13 499 Tributers occasionally earned a great deal, but they took a certain amount of risk, and they were content with a subsist or minimum wage of about the same amount.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
subsistv.
/səbˈsɪst/, U.S. /səbˈsɪst/ I. Senses relating to the maintenance of life through sustenance.
1.
a. intransitive. To maintain life or existence, esp. in the face of privation; to keep alive, live.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > continue in life [verb (intransitive)]
nesteOE
to live forthOE
overliveOE
lastc1225
livec1410
survive1473
supervive1532
subsist?1533
skill1537
to live on1590
outlive1594
(to be) to the front1871
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Cci The sayd vegetable hath in her foure vertues, by the whiche she subsiste and groweth that is to saye, the atractyue; or appetityue, the retentyue the digestyue, and expulsiue.
1590 J. Eliot tr. J. de L'Espine Sicke-mans Comfort 168 God..by his onely word doth cause all creatures to breed and subsist.
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 45 Our bodies can as well subsist without Bread, as our soules without a Saviour.
1716 J. Arbuthnot To Mayor & Aldermen City of London: Humble Petition 2 Should it happen..that this City should be depriv'd of the Sun-Beams for several Months; how will His Majesty's Subjects subsist [?]
1775 S. Johnson Taxation no Tyranny 29 The body may subsist, though less commodiously, without a limb.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 79 How find the myriads..Due sustenance, or where subsist they now?
1794 S. Williams Nat. & Civil Hist. Vermont 388 Several colonies of white people have subsisted in the torrid zone of America.
1861 E. Hughes Geogr. Elem. Schools 34 Here we find so few plants that the animals of more temperate climate cannot subsist.
2000 Hindu (Nexis) 1 Jan. A camel can subsist without water for several days.
b. intransitive. In hyperbolical (also trivial) use: to manage to live or carry on (with a negative expressed or implied).
ΚΠ
1618 W. P. tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. IV. 660 I wonder at the Sages of the world, who..thinke that God hath a needfull bond with things heare below, as if hee could not subsist [Fr. estre] without them.]
1623 E. Misselden Circle of Commerce i. 51 The State hath beene so much abused, that the Dutch could not subsist without our English cloth.
1688 T. D'Urfey Fool's Preferment ii. i. 16 How can a Lady subsist without her Coach and Horses?
1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) vii. 204 Hussy could not subsist without cards.
1758 S. Johnson Idler 27 May 57 It is difficult to conceive how Man can subsist without a News-paper.
1860 Times 17 Nov. 7/6 It is now settled that the London public can no more subsist without a stock conjurer than without a regularly organized band of coloured minstrels.
1985 M. W. Bonanno Dwellers in Crucible iv. 66 If my officers and I must subsist without servitors, you cannot expect to live better than we.
2004 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 23 Dec. e3 The billion-dollar java industry has manipulated the sleepy student..into believing it is impossible to subsist without some flavored, frothed-milk friends.
2.
a. transitive. Of provisions, funds, or a person who is the source of these: to provide sustenance for; to support or maintain with provisions or funds; to maintain, support, keep.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide means of support for
findc1225
sustainc1300
found1377
keep1377
maintainc1405
sustent?a1425
support1493
uphold1546
subsist1547
escota1616
fend1637
aliment1660
run1871
grub-stake1879
1547 in C. Innes Origines Parochiales Scotiae (1851) I. 56 That his executors subsist ane preyst for ane yeir, to syng mes for his saule.
1599 tr. A. de Pontaymeri Womans Woorth f. 61 By her [sc. woman] is this huge masse subsisted, common weales made immortal, citties peopled.
a1683 A. Sidney Disc. Govt. (1704) ii. xxvi. 187 Taking from them all ways of subsisting their Familys.
1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 158 The Free-booters had contributed very much to subsist them for the first Years of the War.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 119. ⁋2 We descry millions of species subsisted on a green leaf.
1725 D. Berkeley Let. 16 July in Notes & Queries (1861) 2nd Ser. 11 165/2 When I accepted the Deanry it was not with any view of subsisting the College in Bermuda with its Income.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. xi. 286 To be subsisted at her Expence from that little Fortune she had independent of her Father. View more context for this quotation
1854 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 76 1 Cultivating just as much land as would subsist them.
1879 H. George Progress & Poverty (1881) i. v. 78 We have seen that capital does not advance wages or subsist labourers, but that its functions are to assist labour.
1901 P. Fountain Deserts N. Amer. x. 235 You can subsist them [sc. mules]..in a country where you could not find food for horses.
1960 R. G. Athearn High Country Empire ii. vi. 136 Here was enough for a base of operations, a place to subsist the cattleman's horses.
2003 G. P. Reddy Farming Performance Farm Women v. 122 The farm women..toil day long and are just able to subsist their families through small farm incomes.
b. transitive. To maintain, provide for, provision (troops). Also formerly: †to provide with pay or an allowance (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > support by payment [verb (transitive)]
subsist1625
subsidize1798
subvent1848
subvention1852
subventionize1879
bankroll1915
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > practise logistics [verb (transitive)] > provision
provision1604
subsist1625
1625 W. Yonge Diary Dec. (1848) (modernized text) 89 They are to be billetted in places near Plymouth, and subsisted till employed in some other expedition.
1687 T. Brown Cal. Reform'd in Duke of Buckingham et al. Misc. Wks. (1704) 226 Explain to him after what manner you subsisted your Cloven Regiment.
1704 London Gaz. No. 4045/3 The Charge of Subsisting these Officers and Men must be very great.
1799 G. Harris in Marquess Wellesley Select. Despatches (1877) 120 We have a sufficient stock of provisions to subsist the troops.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. To subsist, in a military sense, to give pay or allowance, &c. to soldiers; as a captain of the light company will subsist 20 men belonging to the other companies, for so many days during the march.
1868 G. H. Mendell & W. P. Craighill tr. A. H. de Jomini Art of War iii. 77 A French army upon the Elbe might be subsisted from Westphalia.
1898 A. T. Mahan Life Nelson II. 241 If France..was..subsisting an army corps upon Neapolitan territory.
1953 D. L. Morgan Jedediah Smith viii. 157 The General left Fort Atkinson under the impression that he could get sufficient provisions at the Pawnee villages to subsist his party until he reached the buffalo country.
2007 R. M. Coffman & K. D. Graham Honor these Men viii. 90 Lee knew he must subsist his troops on the Maryland countryside.
c. transitive (reflexive). reflexive in same sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > practise logistics [verb (reflexive)] > supply
subsist1810
1810 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 456 Massena cannot long subsist himself in his position.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xxxvii. 39 The troops will be obliged to subsist themselves.
1987 A. Jones Art of War in Western World v. 299 Both armies subsisted themselves by looting the countryside.
3. To maintain or support oneself, now esp. at a minimal level; to live on (also upon) food or money, or by a particular occupation.
a. intransitive. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (intransitive)] > sustain life
liveeOE
subsist1602
to struggle for existence1849
support1869
1602 A. Copley Another Let. to Dis-iesuited Kinseman 39 A shame that Bonum societatis Iesu should subsist vpon so vile support as such an Ordo ad Deum.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vii. 26 Whose argument is but precarious and subsists upon the charity of our assentments. View more context for this quotation
1672 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 355 I have not wherewithall to subsist.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 59 Ireland..reduced to that good degree of Husbandry..that it not only Subsisted of it self..but really increased the Revenue of the Crown.
1772 W. Jones Ess. Poetry Eastern Nations in Poems 198 Our European poetry has subsisted too long on the perpetual repetition of the same images.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. II. vi. 291 Animals which subsist upon vegetables.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. iv. 24 Their forefathers had..modestly subsisted on the Docks.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 255/2 From that time he subsisted by literature.
1926 Social Forces 5 34/2 In 1847, when one-half of the Irish subsisted on potatoes, came the potato rot and population fell off a fifth in five years.
1997 P. Clastres in Granta Spring 206 Since they are nomads in a forest that is rather limited in edible vegetation, the members of the two Guayaki tribes cannot subsist on gathering.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 4 Sept. a10/5 With her husband dead, the family subsists..by selling handmade traditional Kurdish shoes known as klash.
b. transitive (reflexive) in same sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (reflexive)] > sustain life
convey1514
subsist1612
1612 For Colony Virginea Britannia 11 The aduenturers at home may be eased of so great a burthen, by sending vnto vs yeerely supplies of this kinde,..when of these wee shall be able to subsist our selues.
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus viii. 134 Fortune and estate is a great muniment to a Judge, and Rabbi Selom, as Munster quotes him, makes this able men to be meant of rich men, able to subsist themselves and their charges.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 307 He said no Pecune to carry him thither, or to subsist himself when he came there.
1756 E. Burke Vindic. Nat. Society 58 The People..began to subsist themselves from the publick Revenues.
a1806 S. Horsley Serm. (1811) 215 An idle peasantry subsist themselves by theft and violence.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians I. xx. 142 The horses..subsist themselves, in winter and summer, over the vast plains of prairie.
1868 in T. Richmond Local Rec. Stockton & Neighbourhood 110 [She] had for several years subsisted herself and her aged parents by travelling in the adjacent country with housewife cloth for sale.
1905 Times 18 May 11/2 If we had got heaps and heaps of spare land on which we could put these people where they subsist themselves..do you suppose that any of us would object?
2006 R. S. Wheeler Fire Arrow (2007) xxiii. 146 He had seen no game and subsisted himself on roots.
4. † a. transitive. To maintain life in (a being, etc.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (transitive)] > sustain life
sustainc1330
lead?a1366
finda1450
sustentate1542
breast1573
subsist1612
to keep body (life) and soul togethera1616
preserve1694
to eke out1825
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion v. 79 Suspect mee not, that I this dreamed Incubus By strange opinions should licentiouslie subsist.
1717 Philos. Trans. 1714–16 (Royal Soc.) 29 493 It cannot be believed that a Supply, by this means obtained, can long subsist a Diver.
b. transitive. To maintain or carry on (an activity); to keep up. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > continue (an action) [verb (transitive)]
i-haldOE
to hold fortha1325
sustainc1325
containc1330
continuea1340
maintainc1385
carrya1393
keepc1425
to keep upa1535
to stick by ——1551
to hold on1568
to hold out1595
to carry on1609
subsist1633
to keep at ——1825
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia ii. xxv. 254 The contents of the Letters, were to pray Aides to subsist the warre.
1903 J. Murdoch & Isoh Yamagata Hist. Japan xii. 355 Hideyoshi, in consistent adherence to the maxim of subsisting the war in the enemy's country, had ordered his generals to wait till harvest-tide.
II. To remain in existence; to consist.
5.
a. intransitive. To consist of. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > be composed of or consist of [verb (transitive)]
to be made ofa1200
to stand of ——a1393
to stand togetherc1475
remaina1525
compose?1541
subsist1549
to stand on ——1563
to consist of1565
to stand upon ——1601
to consist in1614
comprise1874
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Euensong f. vii Perfecte God and perfecte man: of a resonable soule, and humayne fleshe subsisting [L. subsistens].
1631 R. Brathwait Cater-character iii. 20 in Whimzies Would you have a true survey of his family, and number them by the pole? you shall finde them subsist of three heads: Himselfe, his Truck, and her Misset.
1696 J. Lead Fountain of Gardens sig. P3 Your charge is only to attend this Altar-Fire, and the pure Celestial Oyl, that is the Freewill, which the holy flaming Body doth subsist of.
1751 J. Roche Moravian Heresy Introd. p. xv Every Son of a human Father, is a distinct Being, subsisting of a separate Essence from..the Father that so begat him.
1907 H. J. C. Knight Temptation of Our Lord 194 If we have rightly interpreted the Temptation..it makes a unique contribution to our framing a full idea of Him as true man, subsisting of a reasoning soul and human flesh.
b. intransitive. To consist, lie, or reside in some specified thing, circumstance, fact, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > inhere [verb (intransitive)]
indwella1382
subsist?1555
inhere1586
reside1603
state1631
inexist1678
?1555 T. Paynell tr. J. L. Vives Office of Husband sig. B.iii Nor thys beneuolence doth not subsiste & rest in them [sc. a father's children] onelye, but stretcheth for the vnto the sonne & doughter in law.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. ☞ivv Surmountyng the imperfection of coniecture, weenyng and opinion: and commyng short of high intellectuall conception, are the Mercurial fruite of Dianoeticall discourse, in perfect imagination subsistyng.
1633 G. Herbert Sacrifice in Temple lvii Your safetie in my sicknesse doth subsist.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 278 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors It subsists only in the opinion wherewith most sea-men are prepossessed, that, certainly there is an Island in those parts.
1707 J. Lauder Decisions (1761) II. 385 It [sc. a collegium] can subsist and continue in one.
1734 A. Pope Ess. Man: Epist. IV 36 The Universal Cause..makes what Happiness we justly call, Subsist not in the Good of one, but all.
1741 W. Warburton Divine Legation Moses II. ii. 371 For the one God being the supreme Magistrate, it [sc. theocracy] subsisted in the Worship of that God alone.
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 390 His wealth, fame, honours, all that I intend, Subsist and centre in one point—a friend! View more context for this quotation
1882 E. Coues Biogen (1884) 60 If there be no chemical or physical difference [between a live amœba and a dead one], in what does the great difference subsist?
1936 Psychol. Monogr. 47 i. 8 In Scholastic philosophy these realities are regarded as subsisting in the realm of ideas.
2001 A. Azoulay Death's Showcase x. 242 The truth subsists in my photograph.
c. intransitive. Philosophy. Esp. of a property: to inhere or exist in a particular substance or other thing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > [verb (intransitive)] > exist in a substance or accidents
subsist1599
1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 21 If she were but the bodies accident, And her sole being did in it subsist, As white in snow.
1678 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. iii. 5 The wise Creator..has..so constituted al moral Beings, both Virtues and Vices, as that they cannot subsist but in something natural.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxiii. 136 Not imagining how these simple Ideas can subsist by themselves, we accustom our selves, to suppose some Substratum, wherein they do subsist.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. ix. 467 When they [sc. qualities] come to subsist in Particulars, and to be cloathed, and attended with several Accidents.
1733 A. Baxter Enq. Nature Human Soul i. 9 Neither could it [sc. resistance to a change of state] subsist in matter jointly with any quality, power, conatus, or tendency to change its state.
1821 S. T. Coleridge in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 10 219/2 The disciple of Malbranche, or of Berkeley, [affirms] that the objective subsists wholly and solely in the universal subject—God.
1886 E. B. Bax Handbk. Hist. Philos. 191 That an idea should subsist in an unthinking substance is a manifest contradiction.
1917 M. Sinclair Defence of Idealism vi. 171 Sensations..are planted out in the object; or rather, they subsist in the object by its and their own right.
1994 J. Hoffman & G. S. Rosenkrantz Substance among Other Categories ii. ii. 49 According to the substratum theorist, it does not follow from a property's inhering or subsisting in a thing that the thing literally has that property.
6.
a. intransitive. Originally: to have being or existence, esp. as an actual entity or substance (see substance n. 2); to be. (Frequently in theological or philosophical contexts.) Now also more narrowly in Philosophy: to have being as an abstract object, universal, etc., rather than existing as an actual concrete reality.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > exist as a substance or subsist [verb (intransitive)]
subsist1577
1577 tr. Ruffinus of Aquileia in H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iv. iii. sig. Ddd.v/1 Substaunce noteth the nature of a thing and the reason wherevpon it standeth: but..the subsistence of euerie person doth shewe that very thing which doth subsist.
1645 A. Ross Medicus Med. 42 The light..you say is a spirituall substance, where it subsists alone, and may be an Angell.
1678 R. Cudworth tr. St. Cyril of Alexandria in True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 499 Those Ideas, which Plato sometimes contends to be Substances, and to subsist alone by themselves.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. iii. 145 That God is being itself subsisting by itself.
1769 J. Gill Body Doctrinal Divinity I. i. xxix. 265 The Father of Christ..subsists of himself, he does not owe his being to another, nor is he upheld in it by another.
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 18 The young deities discussed..What subsisteth, and what seems.
1874 ‘G. Eliot’ College Breakfast Party in Macmillan's Mag. July 169 Define your Good... Next, how it may subsist without the Ill Which seems its only outline.
1912 B. Russell Probl. Philos. ix. 156 Universals..subsist or have being, where ‘being’ is opposed to ‘existence’ as being timeless.
1960 Rev. Metaphysics 14 247 The nominalist asserts that properties merely subsist, while wholes (facts) exist.
1991 J. A. Aertsen in S. MacDonald Being & Goodness ii. 72 Thomas concludes that the Platonic view appears to be unreasonable in affirming that there are separate forms of natural things subsisting of themselves.
b. intransitive. To have its being or existence in a particular manner, form, or state (now rarely by a particular condition).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)] > exist in or be situated in
standOE
to have placea1398
exist1585
rely1591
subsist1593
to find place1598
seat1604
rulec1654
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. ii. 49 In which essentiall vnitie of God a Trinitie personall neuerthelesse subsisteth.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. i. §4. 331 The one [sc. cavalry] subsisting, by being at large; the other [sc. infantry], by close imbattailing.
1637 J. Milton Comus 24 The unexempt condition, By which all mortall frailty must subsist.
1649 J. Ellistone in tr. J. Böhme Epist. Pref. sig. a2v All things proceed from God, subsist in God.
a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. i. 2 The being of Time consists onely of a succession of instants..subsisting onely by a flux of Moments.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 169 All subsists by Elemental strife; And Passions are the Elements of Life.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 367 By ceaseless action all that is subsists.
1899 Phonographic Mag. Dec. 222/2 To be an author was to get out of your skull words that did not subsist in that given form before.
1912 J. E. R. Stephens et al. Man. Naval Law (ed. 4) 136 No practical wrong has occurred in the working of the law, which has now subsisted in the same form for more than a century.
1968 P. Brien in M. Florkin & B. T. Scheer Chem. Zool. II. i. i. 3 It is rare for an olynthus to subsist in the ascon stage (Calcarea homocoela ).
2003 New Yorker 1 Sept. 125/3 His characters are frail, thin-sapped creatures..subsisting in a confused, hypnagogic state between sleeping and waking.
7. † b. intransitive. To continue in a condition or position; (in the subscription to a letter, etc.) = remain v. Phrases 2. Obsolete.
a.
(a) intransitive. Of an immaterial thing: to preserve its existence or continue to exist; to remain in existence, use, or force.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)]
standOE
stick1447
remainc1455
subsist1589
stay1593
stick1611
1589 E. A. tr. Admon. Duke of Sauoyes Councel sig. A2v The holie, Catholike & Apostolike Religion in this prouince..is halfe banished and cannot long subsist without speedie remedie.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxxii. sig. H2 So long as braine and heart Haue facultie by nature to subsist . View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. i. §1 The souls of men are capable of subsisting after death.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 517 All ecclesiastical Courts subsisted now by this test only upon the King's permission.
1746 J. Hervey Medit. among Tombs 3 The Exercises of Gratitude subsisted in Paradise.
1762 T. Mortimer Every Man his own Broker (ed. 5) 59 The extensive scene of Jobbing, which has subsisted during the present war.
1794 S. Williams Nat. & Civil Hist. Vermont 161 The murders of the inquisition subsisted for centuries.
1813 J. C. Prichard Res. Physical Hist. Man vi. §6. 311 The custom of eating their prisoners of war still subsists in the central parts of the island of Celebes.
1876 W. E. Gladstone Homeric Synchronism 189 He found that tradition subsisting among them.
1911 Act 1 & 2 George V c. 46. §3 The term for which copyright shall subsist shall..be the life of the author and a period of fifty years after his death.
1955 V. Nabokov Lolita I. xxi. 124 A tradition subsisted from my lodging days that I adored her cakes.
1990 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Aug. 48/2 A state unloved by virtually all but its troops hardly deserves to subsist.
(b) intransitive. Of a physical thing.
ΚΠ
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 2 Adam and all his posteritie had subsisted and continued long vpon earth.
1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth i. xii. 169 The Polar parts [of Saturn] sinking into the Abyss, the middle or Æquinoctial parts still subsisted, and bore themselves up in the nature of an Arch about the Planet.
1742 Ld. Chesterfield Lett. (1932) (modernized text) II. 509 Which charter subsists to this day, and is called Magna Charta.
1772 J. Wesley Jrnl. 1 Feb. (1827) III. 439 Only the old chapel subsists.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 56 Where men and animals have long subsisted.
1819 P. B. Shelley Let. 23 Mar. (1964) II. 89 The central arch..yet subsists.
1903 F. W. H. Myers Human Personality I. 244 The book, of course, subsists; it can be found in many libraries.
1986 R. Krautheimer & S. Curcic Early Christian & Byzantine Archit. (rev. ed.) 83 The outer walls, built in splendid brickwork, subsist to this day.
2001 G. De la Bédoyère Aviation Archaeol. in Brit. 52 It is possible to see where an airfield has been cleared away and where remnants may subsist.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)] > remain, continue > in specified state
ofstandeOE
atstandc1000
goOE
standOE
containc1380
perseverec1380
contunec1400
to hold inc1400
setc1400
remain?a1450
continue1503
stay1570
keepc1600
subsista1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. vi. 73 I am return'd your Souldier:..still subsisting Vnder your great Command. View more context for this quotation
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island ii. xix. 21 The wandring heat (which quiet ne're subsisteth).
1650 G. Campbell in Thanes of Cawdor (Spalding Club) 293 Commending yow and your bedfellow to the Lord, I subsist your loving freind Geo. Campbell.
1748 J. Colson tr. J. A. Nollet Lect. in Exper. Philos. i. iii. 55 The second Cause, which is the Weight of the Water, still subsists entire, and is sufficient for the running of the Water.
8. intransitive. Of a condition or quality: to exist.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)] > of a condition or quality
subsist1606
1606 R. Knolles tr. J. Bodin Six Bks. Common-weale vi. iv. 708 The equalitie they seeke, doth ruine the grounds of all loue and amitie, the which can hardly subsist among equals.
1660 G. H. tr. M. de Vaumorière Grand Scipio ii. ii. 191 If friendship could subsist between two rivalls, I should have already wished a thousand and a thousand times, that Laelius loved you as I do.
1729 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) III. 362 That there should never any Uneasiness subsist between us.
1759 S. Johnson Let. 18 Jan. in J. Boswell Life Johnson (1831) I. 327 You have from me all the regard that can possibly subsist in the heart.
1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. x. 296 Granted upon a condition which did not yet subsist.
1818 Times 9 Mar. 2/3 The most perfect harmony subsists among the several branches of the Royal family of Holland.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. vi. 205 The best possible understanding seems to have subsisted between them.
1922 Ohio Educ. Monthly June 181/1 It is an institution..which makes fine atmosphere in which thrive those kindly relations which subsist among neighbors.
1994 J. Coe What a Carve Up! (1995) 4 The origins of the ill-feelings which subsisted between these unhappy siblings are not easy to trace.
9. intransitive. Of a physical object: to be or live in a particular place or state. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (intransitive)]
wonc725
erdec893
siteOE
liveeOE
to make one's woningc960
through-wonOE
bigc1175
walkc1225
inwonea1300
lenda1300
lenga1300
lingera1300
erthec1300
stallc1315
lasta1325
lodge1362
habit?a1366
breeda1375
inhabitc1374
indwella1382
to have one's mansionc1385
to take (up) one's inn (or inns)a1400
keepc1400
repairc1400
to have (also hold, keep, make) one's residencec1405
to hold (also keep, make, take, etc.) one's mansiona1425
winc1425
to make (one's) residence1433
resort1453
abidec1475
use1488
remaina1500
demur1523
to keep one's house1523
occupy1523
reside1523
enerdc1540
kennel1552
bower1596
to have (also hold, keep, make) residence1597
subsist1618
mansiona1638
tenant1650
fastena1657
hospitate1681
wont1692
stay1754
to hang out1811
home1832
habitate1866
the world > space > place > position or situation > be positioned or situated [verb (intransitive)]
resteOE
standOE
sitOE
liec1121
inhabitc1384
settlea1400
couchc1400
biga1425
loutc1460
residea1475
innc1475
contain1528
consist1542
seatc1580
situate1583
lodge1610
site1616
subsist1618
station1751
1618 W. P. tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. IV. iii. iii. 643 It [sc. a place] subsisteth [Fr. il est] about the center, or aboue that of the earth, or of the whole vniuers, or of the sphere intellectuall.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. ii. 13 The sea subsists upon the superficies of the earth, which is flat.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 922 Forlorn of thee, Whither shall I betake me, where subsist ? View more context for this quotation
a1716 O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. xi. 97 A private Man may be consider'd... As a single Man subsisting by himself.
1813 W. Taylor Eng. Synonyms 284 That is aquatile, which subsists in water.
2007 S. N. Mayberry Can't I love what I Criticize ii. 25 Sammy's family, however, does not subsist in a house but ‘festers’ in an abandoned storefront.
10.
a. intransitive. To make a stand; to stand firm, hold out. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > holding out or making stand > hold out or make stand [verb (intransitive)]
standOE
hold1154
to maintain one's owna1375
to hold or keep (one's) stalec1450
subsist1588
to hold out1769
1588 E. Aggas tr. F. de La Noue Politicke & Mil. Disc. i. 19 Whether the Realme could subsist though such partialities should dismember it.
1643 O. Cromwell Let. 8 Aug. in Lett. & Sp. (1850) I. xv. 219 Make them able to live and subsist.
a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Anglicus (1668) i. 162 If he cannot subsist, there is little or nothing left to hinder the House of Austria from being..Master of Germany.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 359 Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve. View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 19 All the world Could not sustain thy Prowess, or subsist In battel. View more context for this quotation
1726 tr. J. Cavalier Mem. Wars Cevennes iv. 290 There I gave Ravenal necessary Instructions either to avoid meeting the Enemy, or to subsist.
1767 F. Warner Hist. Rebellion & Civil-war Ireland i. 44 She questioning how they could subsist against the two kingdoms of England and Ireland.
b. intransitive. To keep on, persevere. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > perseverance or persistence > persevere or persist [verb (intransitive)]
continuec1340
perseverec1380
stick1447
to rub on1469
to stick unto ——1529
persist1531
to make it tougha1549
whilea1617
subsist1632
to rub along1668
let the world rub1677
dog1692
wade1714
to stem one's course1826
to stick in1853
to hang on1860
to worry along1871
to stay the course1885
slug1943
to slug it out1943
to bash on1950
to soldier on1954
to keep on trucking1972
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. viii. 372 He succumb'd, and could not subsist, not beeing vsed to pedestriall trauayle.
1653 D. Dickson Brief Explic. First 50 Psalms 186 Faith..holds up his heart in his duty, till the Lord send an out-gate, wherein he were not able to subsist otherwise.
1835 Christian Libr. III. 535/1 This religion, which has ever continued, has subsisted in the face of perpetual opposition.
11. intransitive. To cease, stop at a certain point. Cf. desist v. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)]
i-swikec893
swikec897
atwindc1000
linOE
studegieOE
stintc1175
letc1200
stuttea1225
leavec1225
astint1250
doc1300
finec1300
blina1325
cease1330
stable1377
resta1382
ho1390
to say or cry ho1390
resta1398
astartc1400
discontinuec1425
surcease1428
to let offc1450
resista1475
finish1490
to lay a straw?a1505
to give over1526
succease1551
to put (also pack) up one's pipes1556
end1557
to stay (one's own or another's) hand1560
stick1574
stay1576
to draw bridle1577
to draw rein1577
to set down one's rest1589
overgive1592
absist1614
subsista1639
beholdc1650
unbridle1653
to knock offa1657
acquiesce1659
to set (up) one's rest1663
sista1676
stop1689
to draw rein1725
subside1734
remit1765
to let up1787
to wind (up) one's pirna1835
to cry crack1888
to shut off1896
to pack in1906
to close down1921
to pack up1925
to sign off1929
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)] > at a certain point or specified limit
subsista1639
stop1737
to draw the line1839
a1639 J. Spottiswood Hist. Church Scotl. (1677) vi. 403 Nor did their folly, or madness rather, subsist here.
a1687 R. McWard Επαγωνισμοι (1723) 41 Here, at this Time, I shall subsist, since I will have Occasion to speak to this Matter afterward.
a1687 R. McWard Επαγωνισμοι (1723) 227 I might here subsist. But..I shall append..these few Things.
1881 Pittsburgh Legal Jrnl. 4 May 350/1 The party of the second part, if they fail to get oil in paying quantities, or subsist (cease) to work for thirty days at any time, this article to be forfeited and to be null and void.
12. intransitive. To stand, hold good. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > be or become true [verb (intransitive)]
to come truea1527
to come about1597
subsist1747
1747 J. Howe Let. 11 Sept. in Rep. MSS Lady Du Cane (1905) 197 If this story subsists, I presume orders will be given about the disposal of it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1749
v.?1533