Etymologically
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longevity

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /lɒnˈd͡ʒɛv.ɪ.ti/, /lɒŋ-/[1]
  • US: /lɔnˈd͡ʒɛv.ə.ti/, /lɔŋˈd͡ʒɛv.ə.ti/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin longaevitās (“long duration, long life, old age”),[2][3][4][5][6][7] recorded from the 4th century,[2] from Latin longaevus (“of great age, long-lived”), formed from longus (“long”) and aevum (“lifetime, age”),[3][4][5][8][9] with the suffix -tās, English -ity.[2][6] Aevum comes from Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vital force, life; long life, eternity”).[3][5] The word is related to long, age, aeon, coeval and primeval.[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or animal, long life, or the length of a life: 1569, in T. Newton's translation of Cicero's book on old age, according to the revised OED.[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date the first record to 1615,[4][9] and Etymonline to the 1610s.[3]

Semantic evolution

For two centuries the word was used of living beings: Johnson (1755) defined it as "length of life" and quoted Ray's Creation on the longevity of the natives of healthy countries.[10][2] From 1842 it was applied to things, for their long duration or working life,[2] while from 1905 to length of service in a post.[2][11]

Timeline

  • 1569 – long life, length of life, in T. Newton.[2]
  • 1615 – first record according to Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.[4][9]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as "length of life".[10]
  • 1842 – long duration of a thing.[2]
  • 1905 – length of service.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Long life: The village is known for the longevity of its residents.[11][9][2]
  2. The length of a life; lifespan: research into the longevity of bats.[9][2]
  3. Long duration of a thing; also the length of time something lasts or works.[2][9][7]
  4. Length of service in a job or position.[11][2]

Word family

  • longevous
  • long
  • aeon
  • coeval
  • primeval
  • age

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins