Support

How to spell support

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce support

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does support mean?

1. verbTo hold up, assist, or provide backing for someone or something.
2. nounHelp, encouragement, or something that holds an object up.

Support in a sentence

• verb

  Two steel beams support the entire roof.

• noun

  The bridge needed extra support after the flood damage.

• verb

  Her parents agreed to support her through university.

• noun

  She thanked her colleagues for their constant support during the project.

Where does support come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb supportare, which combined sub-, here meaning 'up from under', with portare, meaning 'to carry' or 'to bring'. The literal sense was therefore 'to carry from below', the idea of bearing a weight on your shoulders or holding something up. English took it in during the late 1300s through Old French supporter, at first with the meaning 'to endure' or 'to put up with', which is why we still talk of being unable to support certain behaviour. From physically holding a thing up the meaning broadened naturally into backing a person, a cause, or an argument. The same portare root is hiding in everyday relatives such as 'porter', 'transport', and 'export', all of them about carrying, which is a handy reminder that support keeps a single p and is spelled with -port at the end.

How the word is built

• sup- (variant of sub-: up from under)
• port (from Latin portare: to carry)