Maintains

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Keeps something in a certain state or condition over time ; asserts or affirms a fact or belief as true
2. Preserves or continues the existing condition of an object or system ; declares or insists that something is the case
3. Sustains or supports the ongoing functioning or quality of something ; states or claims something confidently as a truth

Etymology: "Maintains" is the third-person singular form of "maintain", so the story belongs to the verb itself. Its core idea is literal: Latin "manūtenēre" was built from "manū", meaning "by the hand", and "tenēre", meaning "to hold". To maintain something was, at root, to hold it up with your hands, the way you would physically support a weight or prop something upright. The word passed into Middle English as "mayntenen" and reached English through Old French "maintenir", which kept the same sense of supporting or sustaining. Over the centuries the picture shifted from the hands to the mind and to continuity: to keep a state of affairs going, to defend a claim, or to keep a thing in good condition. The sense "keeps something unchanged" grew out of that broader idea of holding something steady over time.

Synonyms: preserves, continues, sustains

Antonyms: neglects, abandons