Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Maintenance in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels maintenance as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Maintenance

[OF. maintenance. See Maintain.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordmaintenance
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[OF. maintenance. See Maintain.]
Selected historical definitionThe act of maintaining; sustenance; support; defense; vindication.
Signed record IDwebster1913-maintenance-noun-1e016c8b9374
Source locatorCIDE.M, paragraph 1018; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "maintenance" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OF. maintenance. See Maintain.]" The selected historical definition says: "The act of maintaining; sustenance; support; defense; vindication."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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