Maintenance Vs Maintainance, What’s The Correct Spelling?

Based on the pronunciation, maintaining a system up and running is spelled “maintenance” instead of “maintainance.” Because when we say it out loud, the word is vocalized as “main-TEN-ence” instead of “main-TAIN-ence.”

The word “maintainance” is misspelled according to the English dictionary. “Maintenance” is the correct term to use when referring to the procedure and mechanism related to keeping a system or any device running correctly. Even though the pronunciation may sound as if it should be written differently.

Why Do We Spell It “Maintenance” Instead Of “Maintainance”?

When adding a suffix to the end of a word in English, some words do not take the usual form. As a result, when that suffix is added, these words can change dramatically, as is the case of “maintenance” vs “maintainance.”

These two terms were derived from the verb “maintain,” which can take on a completely different meaning when used as a noun. Even if you’re typing or texting, you’ll almost certainly see a red line under the word “maintainance,” indicating that it’s misspelled.

The term “maintenance” derives from the Latin words “manu,” which means “hand,” and tenere, which stands for “to hold.” The suffix ‘manu’ was later changed to ‘main’ and ‘tenere’ to ‘tenir’ by the French; it was also modified in American English in the same way. There are many words with Latin origins in English that were adopted from French. Still, the word maintenance was altered in such a way that it almost matched with the etymology.

Because languages change based on widespread usage, it is not uncommon for people to try to change a verb or a word directly. For example, when it comes to the word ‘maintenance,’ there are many similar words with nearly identical pronunciations. For example, retain, pertain, obtain, and so on, which leads to rearranging ‘maintain’ for a more familiar language.

Because the word maintenance is derived from the French word maintenir, it literally means “to hold in hand” or “to maintain.” However, the English spelling honors the intonation by using a “long a” on the second syllable, followed by a soft vowel “schwa.”

The correct spelling of this word, on the other hand, might be difficult. In fact, it is one of the most commonly misspelled English words. It is primarily due to how it is pronounced because the “ai” digraph is used to write the core word maintain.

Many English speakers or people learning to speak English tend to write the word exactly how it sounds. Because depending on the language, there are very few words spelled differently when you pronounce them.

Since the original French word is maintenance, the ‘ai’ was added to other variations derived from this word due to these pronunciation issues. Maintenance is incorrect because it is a direct loanword from French.

When this verb was first introduced to American English, it may have developed a diphthong on the second syllable. This is why the ‘ai’ is used when the spelling is inconclusive, as maintain or maintain could be spelled the same way. This is also true for words such as “mainteyne” and “deceave,” which were standardized in middle English as spelling became more critical.

Aside from that, in the past, words like “maneteinance” or “manteanance” were used. Despite this, they did not normalize them due to the spelling variations that corresponded to the pronunciations. The word’s correct spelling could have influenced this; ‘maintenance’ could also be a non-standard variation of the word.

On the other hand, this variation could not affect the word “maintained’ because it is in the past tense. We will use the exact spelling of other terms like maintainer, maintainable,” and “maintainability”. They all have suffixes that are linked to the main verb without altering it. For example, ‘explain’ like ‘explanation’ or ‘explainable.’

Languages are not logical sometimes, but the usage will depend on historical practice. For example, it is acceptable and reasonable if it sounds coherent, which the people decide upon. Other times, the spelling in English could be less logical than the pronunciation because it could not sound reasonable. But this happens due to the idiom structure that has been implemented since the usage of grammar.

Maintenance Meaning

For technical purposes, the term “maintenance” refers to the routine inspections, repairs, or procedures that must be performed on specific devices, computers, or types of equipment regularly to ensure that they are operating correctly. It could also be applied to machinery used in the construction, industrial, or residential industries.

Over time, the term came to be used to describe a wide range of expressions. These terms could be used to express some cost-effective methods for keeping equipment fully functional and operational before and after its use.

This term refers to the process of using a product or any other technical system in which the concept of maintainability must be applied. In this case, maintainability will entail examining the item’s capacity, assessing its condition, determining how well it functions, and adding or updating the machine’s existing functions.

This will also include regular inspections, rebuilding, modifications, or changes to the parts, materials, or accessories of the device that is being checked.

The functions of maintenance are also related to maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). This term has been normalized over the years for people to start implementing it as another reference for maintenance. There are a few definitions used by the Department of Defense for the United States:

• Activities like running tests, taking measurements, making any replacements, adjustments, or repairs to a specific unit to make it functional are considered maintenance.
• Any action of repairing or restoring the serviceability of equipment.
• Any activity that will be rebuilt, tested, serviced, or adjusted to a system capacity.
• The ongoing daily schedule of performing work that requires reporting service (building, structure, utility system, or other business assets). The action could occur in any place that has the potential to modify its intended purpose from its original or designed capacity and efficiency.

How to use the word ‘maintenance’

As previously stated, if we want to use the word maintenance as a noun, it describes the action of keeping a machine functional to its full service.

It will explain when someone commits negligence for legal purposes, and when a third party provides help if a lawsuit takes place.

In the United Kingdom, maintenance is a payment done periodically to a family member, husband, or spouse after a divorce or separation.

Examples

• Out of all of the processes that need to be done at the office, the most expensive is the maintenance stage.
• The maintenance cost of a modern car is very high.
• The ladies worry so much about how they look that they put a lot of pressure on their maintenance.

Maintenance vs Maintainance

The word “maintainance” is a misspelling of the correct word. This could be a consequence of adding a suffix to the root of the word ‘maintain.’ Some unusual patterns on a couple of English words make us recognize how to correctly write terms like “Maintainance” as (maintain + anace), making it suitable for reading (mainte + nance).

The best way to get the most out of alterations in the English language is to always check the perfect spelling of a word in a dictionary before using it.

Finally, why would people misspell maintenance for maintainance? Because when pronouncing it, you can find the pressure on the middle syllable -e-.