Maintenance Meaning
/ˈmeɪnt(ə)nəns/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounActions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service.
nounA 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.
Sentence Examples
Getting a sports car is easy, compared to the maintenance one must do on it.
The maintenance of the house costs a lot.
The school pays for heating and the maintenance of the buildings.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The car's regular ____ of the engine, brakes, and tires keeps it running safely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The building requires regular ____ to ensure that it stays in good condition and remains safe for everyone.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The car's regular ____ of the engine, brakes, and tires keeps it running safely.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The building requires regular ____ to ensure that it stays in good condition and remains safe for everyone.