Other forms: supported, supporting, supports
To support somebody is to help them and stand on their side. Support a friend, support a campaign, support a team.
It is one of the most stretched verbs in English. It covers emotional backing, financial provision — he supports a family of five — physical holding up, as a beam supports a roof, and technical assistance, as in customer support. In software, to support a feature means to work with it. The noun does all the same jobs. Note that support takes a direct object and no preposition: support the plan, never support to the plan, which is the standard error.
1verbsupportTo help somebody and be on their side.
“Her family supported her all the way through it.”
2verbholdTo hold something up.
“Two beams support the whole roof.”
3verbprovideTo provide money for somebody to live on.
“He supported the family on one wage for six years.”
4nounencouragementHelp and encouragement given to somebody.
“There is very little support for people in that position.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
support is a way of holding up or backing.
Latin supportare is sub-, from below, plus portare, to carry — to carry from underneath. Every sense in English is still that: something holding a weight up from below, whether the weight is a roof, a family, or a person having a bad week.
Proto-Indo-European
*per- (fare)
Latin
supportō
Old French
supporter
Middle English
supporten
English, today
support
From Middle English supporten, from Old French supporter, from Latin supportō.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA