maintainyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[maintain 词源字典]
maintain: [13] Etymologically, maintain means ‘hold in the hand’. It comes via Old French maintenir from Vulgar Latin *manūtenēre ‘support’, a compound verb formed from manū, the ablative case of manus ‘hand’, and tenēre ‘hold’. The derivative maintenance [14] comes from Old French.
=> maintenance, manual, tenant[maintain etymology, maintain origin, 英语词源]
maintain (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-13c., "to practice habitually," from Anglo-French meintenir (Old French maintenir, 12c.) "keep (a wife), sustain; persevere in, practice continually," from Latin manu tenere "hold in the hand," from manu, ablative of manus "hand" (see manual) + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Meaning "to carry on, keep up" is from mid-14c.; that of "to keep oneself, to support" is from late 14c. Sense of "to defend in speech" is from mid-14c. Related: Maintained; maintaining; maintains.