vivo

Forms

vivo (feminine viva, masculine plural vivos, feminine plural vivas, superlative vivísimo)^[1] Old Spanish mostly wrote bivo (Cid, Libro de Apolonio, Juan Ruiz, Nebrija); the Latinising vivo appears early in Berceo, the Fuero de Avilés and the Conde Lucanor.^[2][1] Medieval spellings include biuo, uiuo and viua.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish bivo, inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”).^[2][4][5][1] The spelling with initial b was not arbitrary but the result of a normal dissimilation, as in bivir and bolver;^[2][1] The Latinising spelling gained ground in the Golden Age (it is the only one in the Quijote), but Oudin still preferred the older one, and the modern spelling became general only with Autoridades.^[2][1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese vivo, Galician vivo, Aragonese vivo, Catalan viu, Occitan viu, French vif, Italian vivo and Romanian viu.^[6][7][1] Corominas notes that the word is common to all the Romance languages.^[2] The noun meaning “edging, piping” may be, like Italian vivagno, a shortening of Vulgar Latin *orum vivum (“live edge”).^[2]

The Latin adjective, attested from Naevius on, belongs with vīvō (“to live”); it goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷīwos and Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), which Oscan also continues.^[8][1] Wiktionary derives the PIE adjective from the root *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”) and compares Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌿𐍃 (qius) and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the beginnings of the language: in the Glosas Silenses of the late 10th century, in a charter of 1090 and in the Cantar de mio Cid.^[2][4] The first sense is “having life”, opposed to dead; the Tentative Dictionary also has the plural los bivos “the living” in Berceo and the Libro de Apolonio.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish already used it for running water (aguas bivas in Juan Ruiz), for flowing blood and for an active mind.^[9] Alfonso X's prose has it in the senses “intense” (biuos coraçones “fierce hearts”), “subtle, clever”, and in argen uio “quicksilver”.^[10] Nebrija already used it as a noun for the strip or border of a headdress.^[2]

Autoridades defined it as “enjoying life”, and also as “effective, intense”, extended to spiritual and moral things, and “perfect, outstanding”, said of colours.^[11] The Academy's 1884 edition has the phrases a lo vivo “with the greatest liveliness”, como de lo vivo a lo pintado for a great difference, and en vivo for pigs and cattle weighed alive.^[12] Among the modern senses are “sharp, quick to take advantage” and “too bold”, and in architecture an edge or angle that is sharp and well defined.^[5] In several Latin American countries, and in Spain, en vivo is said of a radio or television programme broadcast live.^[13][1] A Canarian use “thick” (of a needle or thread) was criticised in 1918 but seems not to have lasted.^[14]

Timeline

• 975–1000 – the Glosas Silenses record the word.^[2][4]
• 1090 – a charter in Oelschläger's list.^[2]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid writes bivo.^[2][1]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's General estoria speaks of biuos coraçones “fierce hearts”.^[10]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija uses bivo as a noun for the strip of a headdress.^[2]
• 1535 – the first records from the Americas, in Lima and Santo Domingo.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy records a lo vivo and en vivo.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. alive, living: El pez seguía vivo en la cubeta.^[5][1]
2. Of fire or a flame: burning brightly.^[5]
3. Intense, strong; of a colour, vivid.^[5][1]
4. (chiefly military) On active service.^[5]
5. Subtle, ingenious.^[5]
6. Sharp, quick to take advantage of circumstances for one's own benefit.^[5][16]
7. Too bold or inconsiderate in words or deeds.^[5]
8. Still in force; lasting in the memory.^[5][16]
9. Quick and agile; very expressive.^[5]
10. (architecture) Of an edge or angle: sharp and well defined.^[5]

Noun

1. An edge or border of something.^[5]
2. piping, a cord or braid sewn as trimming along the edges or seams of clothes.^[5]

Word family

• vivaracho
• viveza
• avivar
• vivamente

Related words

• vida
• vivir
• vital
• vivaz
• Latin vīvus

Usage notes

Los vivos “the living” is used as a noun, as in donación entre vivos “gift between living persons”.^[5][15] En vivo “live” is used of performances and broadcasts.^[13][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 834
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. vivo
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vivo
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. vivo
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. vivus
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 Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 78
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. vivo
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 510
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. vivo
14. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. vivo
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. vivo
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vivo