maintenir

== French == === Etymology === Inherited from Old French maintenir, from Vulgar Latin, Late Latin manūtenēre (“to support”), from Latin manū (“with the hand”) + teneō (“to hold”). Equivalent to main +‎ tenir. Compare Spanish mantener, Portuguese manter, Italian mantenere. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /mɛ̃t.niʁ/ === Verb === maintenir to maintain to stick to (reflexive, se maintenir, of the weather) to stay fair (reflexive, se maintenir) to persist (reflexive, se maintenir) to keep up ==== Conjugation ==== This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start with one of these thematic vowels: -a-, -i-, -u-. ==== Derived terms ==== maintenant ==== Related terms ==== maintien === Further reading === “maintenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Old French == === Etymology === main +‎ tenir, calque of Latin manus teneō or from Vulgar Latin, Late Latin manūteneō, manūtenēre (“I support”). === Verb === maintenir to maintain (to keep the same) ==== Conjugation ==== This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem maintien distinct from the unstressed stem mainten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide. ==== Descendants ==== French: maintenir → Romanian: menține → Middle English: mayntenen English: maintain → Cebuano: mintin, mintinar → Middle High German: hanthaben (calque) German: handhaben → Middle Dutch: hanthaven Dutch: handhaven Afrikaans: handhaaf