sobrevivir

Forms

sobrevivir (first-person singular present sobrevivo, first-person singular preterite sobreviví, past participle sobrevivido)^[1] The oldest texts conjugate it like Old Spanish vivir, with the perfect stem in the future subjunctive sobreuisquiere; the Fuero de Teruel has the future sobrebiurá.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish sobrevivir, inherited from Latin supervīvere (“to outlive, survive”), equivalent to sobre- + vivir.^[1][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from super- (“over, beyond”) and vīvō (“to live”), and it is post-Augustan, construed with the dative of the person or event outlived.^[6][7]

The same Latin verb is behind Portuguese sobreviver, Galician sobrevivir, Asturian sobrevivir, Catalan sobreviure, French survivre and Italian sopravvivere.^[8][9][1] The Latin verb for “to live” goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷīwe- (“to live”) and to Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃-ue- (“to live”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record in the CDH is in the Fuero de Alcaraz (before 1296), on the inheritance of land by the surviving parent: el padre que sobreuisquiere “the father who survives”.^[2] The DEMel cites the same form from the Fuero de Plasencia, which it dates 1221, while the CDH dates its manuscript about 1300.^[3][2] Segura Munguía, following Corominas's dates, gives 1607.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval fueros the verb belonged to the law of inheritance: the surviving spouse or parent kept the property acquired in common.^[2] The Academy's dictionaries from 1817 to 1917 defined it as “to live longer than another, or to live on after another's death”, with Latin superstitem esse as the equivalent.^[12][13][14] The DLE now adds “to live on scant means or in hard conditions” and, of things, “to last, endure”.^[4] The earliest records from the Americas are from Lima (1791) and Chile (1862).^[15] The learned variants superviviente and supervivencia are from the 19th century.^[16]

Timeline

• 1221 – the date the DEMel gives the Fuero de Plasencia, which has sobreuisquiere; the CDH dates its manuscript about 1300.^[3][2]
• before 1296 – the Fuero de Alcaraz uses sobreuisquiere of the surviving father.^[2]
• c. 1300 – the Fuero de Teruel has sobrebiurá.^[2]
• 1506 – Álvarez Chanca writes of patients who sobrevivieron an epidemic.^[2]
• 1607 – the date Segura Munguía gives, following Corominas.^[11]
• 1791 – first record in the Americas, from Lima.^[15]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary defines it as living longer than another.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a person: to survive, to live on after another's death or after a certain event: Solo tres pasajeros sobrevivieron al accidente.^[4][1]
2. (intransitive) To live on very little or in adverse conditions; to scrape by.^[4][17]
3. (intransitive) Of a person or a thing: to endure, to last over time.^[4]

Word family

• sobreviviente

Related words

• vivir
• superviviente
• supervivencia
• Latin supervīvō
• Portuguese sobreviver

Usage notes

The verb is construed with a for what is survived (sobrevivir a su mujer).^[17] Wiktionary lists the learned variant supervivir.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. sobrevivir
3. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. sobrevivir
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. sobrevivir
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6490
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. supervivo
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 359
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. sobreviure
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 847
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 808
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 672
14. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1526
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. sobrevivir
16. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 753
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sobrevivir