subsistent

[ suhb-sis-tuhnt ]

adjective

1. subsisting, existing, or continuing in existence.
2. inherent:

   subsistent qualities of character.

noun

1. Philosophy. something that exists necessarily as opposed to contingent existence in space and time.

Other Words From

• nonsub·sistent adjective
• presub·sistent adjective
• self-sub·sistent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of subsistent¹

1520–30; < Latin subsistent- (stem of subsistēns ), present participle of subsistere to remain; subsist, -ent

Example Sentences

Wild bird eggs could certainly have been a substitute and impoverished, subsistent shepherds likely would have found those in the forest.

From Salon

It’s a subsistent existence reliant on cheap or stolen food, dumpster diving and their own idiosyncratic brand of organization.

From Los Angeles Times

By the end of the trip, I’d seen landscapes both lush and dry, mountainous and flat; communities both affluent and subsistent; sights for the historian and for the adventure-seeker alike.

From Washington Post

Thus the identity in character and operation, having been cut off from the changing elements in its real action, is transmuted into a substantial somewhat, a subsistent faculty.

From Project Gutenberg

As for thoughts which should make an epoch of the period, we suppose the number of these to be in about the same proportion to the number of minds capable of thought, that the pearls now existent bear to the oysters still subsistent.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Subsistent

What does subsistent mean?

Subsistent describes existing or continuing to live.

Subsistent is generally used to describe something that continues but doesn’t grow or get better. Something that is subsistent is barely enough, as in We grow all our own food, but we can only grow a subsistent amount.

Subsistent also describes something that is inherent or built-in, such as our need to breathe in order to acquire oxygen. You may hear discussions about aspects of life or industries as being subsistent, meaning they are unavoidable. For example, grief is a subsistent part of life.

Example: Some cultures were subsistent simply on farming and foraging.

Where does subsistent come from?

The first records of the term subsistent come from around the 1520s. It comes from the Latin subsistere, meaning “to remain.”

In discussions of philosophy, subsistent is used to mean “something that exists separate from space and time.” This idea was largely developed by the Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas, who proposed that the soul was subsistent and that after death it continued to exist separate from the body outside of normal space.

In some fields of abstract philosophy, such as ontology, something that is subsistent is said to be real even if it does not exist. While the theory of subsistent objects is very complex and requires extensive knowledge, a simplified example is that a unicorn, which does not exist, still subsists because humans can think about a unicorn as an object.

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to subsistent?

• nonsubsistent (adjective)
• presubsistent (adjective)
• self-subsistent (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with subsistent? 

• subsist
• subsistence

What are some words that often get used in discussing subsistent?

• life
• living
• wages

How is subsistent used in real life?

Subsistent is most commonly used in discussions about what a person needs to live.

"The Islamic worldview is not be consumed as dualism, for although two elements are involved, yet the one is independent and subsistent while the other is dependent upon it; the one is absolute and the other relative; the one is real and the other manifestaion of that reality. +

— -a.verse (@yvachh) February 6, 2022

The first alternative is that it is rendered subsistent either by this thing or by another that takes its place

— Ibn Sina (@lBNSlNA) February 2, 2022

I am supportive of government intervention maintaining certain industrial capacities for national security, and food security is the most basic. But look at it, is it enough, too much? You want a subsistent minimum.

— Mark Dowst 🌐 (@mdowstfl) February 4, 2022

 

 

Try using subsistent!

True or False?

A subsistent amount of food is just enough food to live on.