SUBSIST'ENCE SUBSIST'ENCY, noun Real being; as a chain of differing subsistencies. Not only the things had subsistence but the very images were of some creatures existing. 1. Competent provisions; means of supporting life. His viceroy could only propose to himself a comfortable subsistence out of the plunder of his province. 2. That which supplies the means of living; as money, pay or wages. 3. Inherence in something else, as the subsistence of qualities in bodies.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI