Subsist

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: sub=sist

CIDE DICTIONARY

Subsist, v. i. [L. subsistere to stand still, stay, remain alive; sub under + sistere to stand, to cause to stand, from stare to stand: cf. F. subsister. See Stand.].

•  To be; to have existence; to inhere.  [1913 Webster]

  "And makes what happiness we justly call,
  Subsist not in the good of one, but all."  [1913 Webster]
•  To continue; to retain a certain state.  [1913 Webster]

  "Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be maintained with food and clothing; to be supported; to live.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "To subsist on other men's charity."  [1913 Webster]

Subsist, v. t. 

 To support with provisions; to feed; to maintain; as, to subsist one's family.  [1913 Webster]
"He laid waste the adjacent country in order to render it more difficult for the enemy to subsist their army."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Subsist, v.
1 intr. (often foll. by on) keep oneself alive; be kept alive (subsists on vegetables).
2 intr. remain in being; exist.
3 intr. (foll. by in) be attributable to (its excellence subsists in its freshness).
4 tr. archaic provide sustenance for.

Derivative

subsistent adj.

Etymology

L subsistere stand firm (as SUB-, sistere set, stand)

THESAURUS

Subsist

abide, be, be alive, be animate, be extant, be found, be in existence, be left, be met with, be present, be the case, be there, bide, breathe, carry on, continue, continue to be, cope, defeat time, defy time, draw breath, dwell, eke out, endure, exist, extend, fetch breath, get by, go on, happen to be, have being, have life, have place, hold, hold on, hold out, keep, keep afloat, keep on, last, last long, last out, live, live and breathe, live on, live through, maintain, make ends meet, make out, manage, move, obtain, occur, perdure, perennate, persist, prevail, remain, respire, rest, run, run on, scrape along, stand, stay, stay on, survive, sustain, tarry, tide over, walk the earth, wear, wear well

ROGET THESAURUS

Subsist

Existence

VB exist, be, have being, subsist, live, breathe, stand, obtain, be the case, occur, have place, prevail, find oneself, pass the time, vegetate, consist in, lie in, be comprised in, be contained in, be constituted by, come into existence, arise, come forth, become, bring into existence, abide, continue, endure, last, remain, stay.

Permanence

VB let alone, let be, let it be, persist, remain, stay, tarry, rest, stet (copy editing) hold, hold on, last, endure, bide, abide, aby, dwell, maintain, keep, stand, stand still, stand fast, subsist, live, outlive, survive, hold one's ground, keep one's ground, hold one's footing, keep one's footing, hold good.

Life

VB be alive, live, breathe, respire, subsist, walk the earth, strut and fret one's hour upon the stage, be spared, see the light, be born, come into the world, fetch breath, draw breath, fetch the breath of life, draw the breath of life, quicken, revive, come to life, give birth to, bring to life, put into life, vitalize, vivify, vivificate, reanimate, keep alive, keep body and soul together, keep the wolf from the door, support life, hive nine lives like a cat.