# maintenance

Pronunciation: say "MAYN-tuh-nuhns" /ˈmeɪnt(ə)nəns/

## Noun

1. The work of keeping something, such as a building, machine, or piece of software, in good condition and working order, including repairs and fixes.
   - Simple: The work of keeping something in good working order, like a car, a building, or software.
   - _The bridge requires constant maintenance to remain safe for traffic._
   - _Skipping routine maintenance shortened the engine's lifespan considerably._
2. Money needed to meet a person's or family's needs, or the amount spent meeting them.
   - Simple: Money used to pay for the things a person or family needs.
   - _Under the terms of the will, the estate set aside an annual sum for the maintenance of his widow and their three children._
   - _The estate provided enough for the maintenance of the whole household._
3. Regular payments, or a lump sum, that a person is required to make toward the living costs of a former spouse or partner or of their children, especially after a separation or divorce. *(UK)*
   - Simple: Money a person must pay to support a former spouse or partner, or their children, especially after separation or divorce.
   - _Under the settlement, he was required to pay maintenance until his former wife remarried._
   - _The judge reduced the monthly maintenance after his income fell._
4. The natural processes that keep an organism alive and functioning.
   - Simple: The natural body processes that keep a living thing alive.
   - _A basal metabolic rate reflects the energy used for the body's maintenance at rest._
   - _Cells devote considerable resources to the maintenance of internal balance._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Short form of maintenance medicine, chiefly in Philippine English: medication taken regularly over a long period to keep a chronic condition under control.
- (noun) The wrongful act, treated as a tort and in some places a crime, of a disinterested third party assisting or funding another person's lawsuit.

## Origin

From Middle English mayntenaunce, from Old French maintenance, from the verb maintenir, which goes back to Latin manū tenēre ("to hold in the hand"). It can be analyzed as maintain plus -ance, though maintain changed in sound and spelling to -tain-, while maintenance keeps the older -ten-.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/maintenance (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).