maintenance

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

maintenance

/ˈmeɪnt(ə)nəns/

Where it comes from

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.

noun maintenances

uncountable, usually Actions 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.
uncountable, usually A tort and (in some jurisdictions) an offence committed when a third party who does not have a bona fide interest in a lawsuit provides help or acquires an interest to a litigant's lawsuit.
UK, uncountable, usually Alimony, a periodical payment or a lump sum made or ordered to be made to a spouse after a divorce.
uncountable, usually Child support.
uncountable, usually Money 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.
uncountable, usually The natural process which keeps an organism alive.
Philippines, abbreviation, colloquial, ellipsis, uncountable, usually Ellipsis of maintenance medicine
attributive, uncountable, usually Software updates that fix bugs and improve stability rather than adding new features. a maintenance release; a maintenance version

verb maintenances · maintenancing · maintenanced

To perform maintenance on a machine or system.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: upkeep, sustenance, sustainment, sustentation, alimony, care, maintaining, servicing, maintained, repair, refurbishment, renovation, overhaul, refit, remedial, rectification

Translations

Every language

noun keeping a machine or system in service — see also care

Español	mantenimiento, manutención
한국어	보존 bojon, 유지 yuji
日本語	保守 hoshu, 維持 iji, メンテナンス mentenansu
中文	保養 /保养 bǎoyǎng, 維持 /维持 wéichí, 保守 bǎoshǒu
हिन्दी	रख-रखाव rakh-rakhāv
Kiswahili	matengenezo
Português	manutenção
Français	entretien, maintenance
Deutsch	Instandhaltung, Wartung
Italiano	manutenzione
Русский	обслу́живание obslúživanije, ремо́нт remónt, подде́ржка poddéržka
Tiếng Việt	bảo trì, bảo dưỡng
العربية	صِيَانَة ṣiyāna

noun tort

中文	助訟 /助讼 zhùsòng

noun money to provide for the means of living

Deutsch	Unterhalt
Русский	содержа́ние soderžánije, подде́ржка poddéržka

noun process of keeping an organism alive

Español	mantenimiento
Português	mantimento
Français	maintenance
Italiano	mantenimento

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"maintenance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/maintenance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

maintenance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/maintenance

Chicago

"maintenance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/maintenance.

BibTeX

@misc{maintenance_2026,
  title = {maintenance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/maintenance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}