maintenance
noun/ˈmeɪnt(ə)nəns/ · /ˈmeɪntɪnəns/
Etymology 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.
8 senses
- 1Actions performed to keep some machine or system…
- 2A tort and (in some jurisdictions) an offence committed…
- 3Alimony, a periodical payment or a lump sum made or…
- 4Child support.
- 5Money required or spent to provide for the needs of a…
- 6The natural process which keeps an organism alive.
- 7Ellipsis of maintenance medicine.
- 8Software updates that fix bugs and improve stability…
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.2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42:
Law 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.
Law Usually Child support.
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.1815 [1802], William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence:
Biology, Natural sciences Usually The natural process which keeps an organism alive.
Medicine, Sciences Philippines, Abbreviation, Colloquial, Ellipsis, Usually Ellipsis of maintenance medicine.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences, Software Usually Software updates that fix bugs and improve stability rather than adding new features.
- a maintenance release; a maintenance version
- Derived terms
- automaintenance, cap of maintenance, data maintenance, facilities maintenance, facility maintenance, health maintenance organization, high-maintenance, low-maintenance, maintenance-free, maintenance hole, maintenance margin, maintenance medicine, maintenance window, nonmaintenance, percussive maintenance, postmaintenance, premaintenance, preventative maintenance, separate maintenance, telemaintenance, undermaintenance