Sustenant

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A person or thing that provides support, nourishment or upkeep ; having the quality of nourishing, supporting or keeping something alive
2. Something that gives support or food to keep another thing going ; describing a quality that nourishes or maintains life or existence
3. A supporter or source of nourishment for something ; serving to keep something alive, upheld or in existence

Etymology: "Sustenant" comes from the Latin verb "sustinere," meaning to hold up or bear up. The verb combines "sub-," meaning "under," with "tenere," meaning "to hold," so the core image is of something held up from below. That sense of bearing a weight gradually came to cover keeping a person or creature alive, which is where the word's nourishing sense comes from. "Sustenant" is a present-participle form, built on the same "-ant" ending found in English words like "pleasant" and "servant." Its nouns and adjectives share the root of "sustain" and "sustenance," so readers who know those words can recognize the family at once. The adjective describes something that supplies nourishment, and the noun names the thing or agent doing the supplying.

Synonyms: sustaining, nourishing, supporting