lively
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈlaɪv.li/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English liflich, inherited from Old English līflīc (“living, existing; literally life-like”),[2][3][4] from līf (“life”) and -līc (see life and -ly).[2][3] Compare Old High German līblīh and Old Norse lífligr.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Living, animate: about 1000 in the OED, before 1000 in Barnhart.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
Trench notes that lively once meant nearly the same as living, which explains lively stones beside a living stone in 1 Peter 2:4–5 in the Authorized Version.[6] Vital, necessary to life, is an obsolete Old English sense.[5] The main modern sense, active and energetic, developed by the early 13th century from the notion of being full of life;[3][5] Barnhart dates liflich in this sense to 1377.[2] Life-like or vivid, of an image, is from about 1320,[5] and vivid, of feelings or impressions, from 1535.[5] Gay or cheerful is from the 16th century.[4]
Timeline
- c. 1000 – līflīc, living.[5]
- before 1225 – vigorous, energetic.[5]
- c. 1320 – life-like, vivid.[5]
- 1535 – vivid (feelings).[5]
- 1615 – brisk, sparkling.[5]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Full of life and energy; vigorous.
- Cheerful and animated; vivacious.
- Busy or eventful; intense or vivid: a lively debate.
- Refreshing or brisk: a lively breeze.
Word family
- livelily
- liveliness
- overlively
- unlively
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker