viviente

Forms

viviente m or f (masculine and feminine plural vivientes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vīvēns (“living”), the present participle of vīvō (“to live”).^[1][2][3] The DLE presents it as the old active participle of vivir, formed with the suffix -nte on the Latin model.^[4][5] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of vivo, with Nebrija as his first record.^[6] The same participle is Catalan vivent, French vivant and Italian vivente.^[7]

The Latin verb goes back to *gʷīwe- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃-ue/o- (“to live”), the source also of Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”).^[8] Wiktionary reconstructs the participle itself as *gʷíh₃wontm̥, continued also in जीवन्त (jī́vanta).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first hit is the psalter that Herman el Alemán translated (c. 1240–1272): assí como viuientes “as if living”.^[9] A New Testament of before 1260 has Ca assi como el Padre uiuiente me enuio, assi uiuo yo por el Padre “for as the living Father sent me, so I live by the Father”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Spanish the participle is common in Bible translations, as in alma viuiente “living soul” and agoas biuientes “living waters”.^[9] Alfonso X's General Estoria has the shortened form uiuient.^[10] Nebrija gives biviente cosa en tierra & agua for Latin amphibius.^[6][11] Cervantes uses los viuientes as a noun for people alive.^[12]

The Diccionario de Autoridades (1739) calls it the active participle of vivir and quotes it in an absolute construction, viviente el Papa Martin “while Pope Martin was alive”.^[13] In philosophy it named the animate beings as a class of substance, and alma viviente was used with a negative to mean “nobody at all”.^[13] Wills from Mexico and Cuba from 1569 on speak of death as natural to every viviente criatura.^[14] In Ecuador a viviente was a labourer living on an estate, with rights and duties towards its owner.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1240–1272 – Herman el Alemán's psalter has viuientes.^[9]
• before 1260 – a New Testament has el Padre uiuiente.^[9]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's General Estoria has the form uiuient.^[10]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's biviente cosa en tierra & agua “amphibious”, Corominas's first record.^[6]
• 1569 – the first record from the Americas, in a will from Puebla.^[14]
• 1605–1615 – Cervantes uses los viuientes in the Quijote.^[12]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records alma viviente.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from Latin vivens, viventis.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. living, alive, having life: Todo ser viviente necesita agua.^[4][3][1]
2. Still alive: Es el único de sus hermanos que queda viviente.^[3]
3. Of a show or game: performed by real people instead of figures or pieces.^[16]

Noun

1. A living being, especially a living person.^[4][1]
2. (Ecuador) A labourer who lives on an estate.^[15]

Related words

• vivir
• vivo
• vida
• vivienda
• superviviente
• sobreviviente
• Latin vīvō

Usage notes

Alma viviente and todo bicho viviente are set phrases: no había alma viviente “there was not a living soul”, todo bicho viviente “every living creature, everybody”.^[4][13][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1096
3. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. viviente
4. ^ a b c d 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. viviente
5. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. viviente
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 834
7. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 728
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. viviente
10. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. viviente
11. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. viviente
12. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. viviente
13. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 510
14. ^ 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. viviente
15. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 818
16. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. viviente