Etymologically
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survival

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 03:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /səˈvaɪ.vəl/, US /sɚˈvaɪ.vəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English survive + -al.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Continuing to live after some event, outliving: 1598 in the OED and MWU, the 1590s in Etymonline.[5][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Something that continues to exist after others of its kind have gone, such as an old custom or belief, is from 1716,[5][2] and continuance after the end of something else from 1820.[5] Survival of the fittest (1864) was used by Herbert Spencer in place of Darwin's “natural selection”.[2][5] The ability to stay alive in harsh conditions, and compounds such as survival kit and survival course, are from the late 1960s and early 1970s.[5] Other nouns from survive were survivance (1620s) and survivorship (1620s), the latter mostly legal.[2]

Timeline

  • 1598 – outliving.[5]
  • 1716 – something that survives.[5]
  • 1820 – continuance after something ends.[5]
  • 1864 – survival of the fittest.[5][2]
  • 1971 – survival kit and other compounds.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or fact of continuing to live or exist, especially despite danger or difficulty.
  2. Something, such as an old custom or belief, that has survived from an earlier time.

Word family

  • nonsurvival
  • survivalist
  • survivalism
  • survival kit
  • survival of the fittest
  • survival value

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ 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