sustentation

Meanings

1. The act or the result of sustaining; sustainment; sustention.
2. The aggregate of the functions by which a living organism is maintained in a normal condition of weight and growth.
3. The scheme by which the ministers of the Free Church of Scotland are supported by voluntary contributions not local or congregational, but with a national altruism or solidarity paid into a great central fund, out of which equal stipends are paid to all alike.

Etymology

First attested in 1382: from the Old French sustentacion, from the Latin sustentātio, from sustentō; compare the Italian sostentazione, the Occitan sustentacion, the Portuguese sustentação, and the Spanish sustentación. Doublet of sustentatio.