Meanings
plural maintenances
- uncountableusuallyActions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service.
They are all preventable by proper maintenance, but non-safety critical maintenance has to be evaluated, so failures are an accepted penalty for keeping maintenance costs down.
2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42 - uncountableusuallylawChild support.
- uncountableusuallyMoney required or spent to provide for the needs of a person or a family.
From Pond to Pond he roamed, from moor to moor; / Housing, with God's good help, by choice or chance: / And in this way he gained an honest maintenance.
1815 [1802], William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence - uncountableusuallybiologyThe natural process which keeps an organism alive.
- PhilippinesabbreviationcolloquialellipsisuncountableusuallymedicineEllipsis of maintenance medicine.
present singular third person maintenances · participle present maintenancing · participle past maintenanced · past maintenanced
- To perform maintenance on a machine or system.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounactivity involved in maintaining something in good working order
nouncourt-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated
nounthe act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence
nounthe unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmanus tenēre“to hold in the hand”
- Old Frenchmaintenance
- Middle Englishmayntenaunce
- Englishmaintenance
From Middle English mayntenaunce, from Old French maintenance, from maintenir, from Latin manus tenēre (“to hold in the hand”). By surface analysis, maintain + -ance. Note that maintain has undergone a sound and spelling change, hence is spelt with -tain-, rather than the -ten- still found in maintenance.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صِيَانَة
- صِيَانَة (ṣiyāna)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Bulgarian издръ́жка, поддръ́жка
- издръ́жка (izdrắžka)money to provide for the means of living
- поддръ́жка (poddrắžka)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Catalan manteniment
- mantenimentkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Chinese Cantonese 助訟 /助讼
- 助訟 /助讼 (zo⁶ zung⁶)tort
Chinese Mandarin 助訟 /助讼, 保養 /保养
- 助訟 /助讼 (zhùsòng)tort
- 保養 /保养 (bǎoyǎng)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- 維持 /维持 (wéichí)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- 保守 (bǎoshǒu)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Czech údržba, obsluha
- údržbakeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- obsluhakeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Danish hævdelse, forsvar
- hævdelsetort
- forsvartort
- vedligeholdelsekeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- servicekeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Dutch onderhoud, handhaving
- onderhoudkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- handhavingkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Esperanto bontenado, bontenado
- bontenadoprocess of keeping an organism alive
- bontenadokeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Estonian hooldus
- hoolduskeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Finnish elantokustannukset, elintoimintojen ylläpito
- elantokustannuksetmoney to provide for the means of living
- elintoimintojen ylläpitoprocess of keeping an organism alive
- kunnossapitokeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
French maintenance, entretien
- maintenanceprocess of keeping an organism alive
- entretienkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- maintenancekeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
German Unterhalt, Instandhaltung
- Unterhaltmoney to provide for the means of living
- Instandhaltungkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- Wartungkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Hindi रख-रखाव
- रख-रखाव (rakh-rakhāv)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Hungarian szerviz, karbantartás
- szervizkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- karbantartáskeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Icelandic viðhald
- viðhaldkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Indonesian perawatan, pemeliharaan
- perawatankeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- pemeliharaankeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Irish coinneáil
- coinneáilkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Italian mantenimento, manutenzione
- mantenimentoprocess of keeping an organism alive
- manutenzionekeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Japanese 保守, 維持
- 保守 (hoshu)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- 維持 (iji)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- メンテナンス (mentenansu)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Korean 보존, 유지
- 보존 (bojon)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- 유지 (yuji)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Latin tuitiō, tuitiō
- tuitiōmoney to provide for the means of living
- tuitiōkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Malay penyenggaraan
- penyenggaraankeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Māori moni oranga
- moni orangamoney to provide for the means of living
Norwegian Bokmål vedlikehold
- vedlikeholdkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Polish utrzymanie, konserwacja
- utrzymaniemoney to provide for the means of living
- konserwacjakeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Portuguese mantimento, manutenção
- mantimentoprocess of keeping an organism alive
- manutençãokeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Russian содержа́ние, подде́ржка
- содержа́ние (soderžánije)money to provide for the means of living
- подде́ржка (poddéržka)money to provide for the means of living
- обслу́живание (obslúživanije)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- ремо́нт (remónt)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- подде́ржка (poddéržka)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Scottish Gaelic gleidheadh, cumail suas
- gleidheadhkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- cumail suaskeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Slovak údržba, obsluha
- údržbakeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- obsluhakeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Spanish mantenimiento, mantenimiento
- mantenimientoprocess of keeping an organism alive
- mantenimientokeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- manutenciónkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Swahili matengenezo
- matengenezokeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Swedish underhåll
- underhållkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Tagalog panataman
- panatamankeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Thai การบำรุงรักษา
- การบำรุงรักษาkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Turkish bakım
- bakımkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Ukrainian утри́мання, обслуго́вування
- утри́мання (utrýmannja)money to provide for the means of living
- обслуго́вування (obsluhóvuvannja)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- ремо́нт (remónt)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- до́гляд (dóhljad)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- підтри́мка (pidtrýmka)keeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Vietnamese bảo trì, bảo dưỡng
- bảo trìkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
- bảo dưỡngkeeping a machine or system in service — see also care
Cite this entry
maintenance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maintenance
“maintenance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maintenance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maintenance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maintenance.
Source: maintenance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.