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vivre

Etymology and origin of the French word vivre

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
2nd half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger
Inherited from
Latin vivo via Old French
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*gʷeyh₃-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vivo
French vivre
Latin vivesco

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /vivʁ/[1]

Forms

vivre[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vivre, inherited from Latin vīvō (“to live”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷīwō and the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”), also seen in Ancient Greek ζῆν (zên) and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos).[1][3][6] The past forms in “véc-” (“vécu”, “vécus”) come from the Latin perfect stem “vīx-”, with metathesis to “visc-”.[1]

Cognate with Italian vivere, Occitan viure, Catalan viure, Spanish vivir and Portuguese viver.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 10th century in the Vie de saint Léger, meaning “to be alive”; about 1050 the Vie de saint Alexis also uses it for a way of living, Ore vivrai an guise de turtrele “now I shall live like a turtle-dove”.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the 11th century it meant “to have the means of living” and, with de, “to feed on” and “to earn one's living from” (about 1200).[3][2] The acclamation vive…! dates from about 1170, and âme qui vive “anyone”, with a negative, from 1690.[3] Savoir vivre, “to behave as society expects”, is recorded in 1466.[2][3]

Used transitively, vivre meant “to spend (a life, a time)” (1549, vivre une belle vie); vivre sa vie is a 20th-century phrase.[3] The Latinism avoir vécu “to be dead” is in Corneille (1640), and avoir vécu “to have experience of life” in Voltaire (1759).[2] The infinitive used as a noun, le vivre (about 1130), survives in le vivre et le couvert and in the plural les vivres “provisions”.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 10th century – Vivre in the Vie de saint Léger.[2]
  • c. 1130 – The infinitive used as a noun, le vivre.[8]
  • c. 1170 – The acclamation vive…!.[3]
  • c. 1200 – Soi vivre de, to earn one's living from.[2]
  • 1466 – Savoir vivre.[2]
  • 1549 – Transitive vivre une belle vie.[3]
  • 1640 – Avoir vécu “to be dead” in Corneille's Horace.[2]
  • 1690 – Âme qui vive in Furetière.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To live, be alive, exist: la joie de vivre.[9][10]
  2. To live in a certain way or place: vivre heureux, vivre à Paris.[10][11]
  3. Vivre de: to live on, earn one's living from: vivre de son travail.[2][9]
  4. To experience, go through: vivre une aventure.[1][9]
  5. Vive…!: long live…!, an acclamation.[9]
  6. Savoir vivre: to know how to behave in society.[9]

Word family

  • vivant
  • viveur
  • vivoter
  • revivre
  • survivre
  • vif
  • vivace
  • vivement
  • vivifier
  • vivisection
  • vie
  • Latin vīvō

Usage notes

A separate word vivre, also vouivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper”), is a serpent in heraldry.[12][13] In Quebec vivoir was coined in 1913 for the living room, to avoid the English word.[2]

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 i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 577b
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 487b

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Vivre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vivre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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