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# subsistence

noun (subsistence — uncountable); adjective use (subsistence farming)

«subsistence» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Subsistence is having just enough food, water and money to stay alive, with nothing extra. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#m1)
2. Subsistence farming is growing just enough food to feed your own family, not to sell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#m2)
3. (formal, money) Subsistence can mean money paid to cover basic living costs like meals when away for work. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#m3)

### In the lessons

In geography lessons, pupils compare subsistence farming with commercial farming (growing to sell). In history, many poor families lived at subsistence level. In adult working life, «subsistence allowance» pays for meals and hotels on work trips. Phrases: «subsistence farming», «a subsistence level», «means of subsistence».

### Examples

- Many families in the past lived on subsistence farming. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x1)
- Subsistence farmers grow food mainly to eat, not to sell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x2)
- Their wages were barely enough for subsistence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x3)
- In geography we compared subsistence and commercial farming. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x4)
- Fishing was the village's means of subsistence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x5)
- Dad gets a subsistence allowance when he works away. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x6)
- A poor blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for their subsistence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/#x7)

### Note

Uncountable. Related verb «subsist» (to stay alive with very little). Do not confuse with «substance» (material) or «assistance» (help).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «subsistence» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/subsistence/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«subsistence» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/subsistence.html) on Mova free.