viver

Forms

viver (first-person singular present vivo, first-person singular preterite vivi, past participle vivido)^[1] Old forms: vivia and uiuer in the 13th century, vyue in 1391, beuer and ujuo in the 14th century.^[2] The cantigas have the preterite vevi and the imperfect vevia.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vīvō (“to live”), written Old Galician-Portuguese viver in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1]

The same Latin verb is Galician vivir, Spanish vivir, Catalan viure, French vivre, Italian vivere and Mirandese bibir.^[5][1]

The Latin verb comes from Proto-Italic *gʷīwō and Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti (“to live”).^[1][6] Its cognates include Old English cwic (“alive”), Old Church Slavonic жити (žiti), Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) and Sanskrit जीवति (jīvati).^[1] The ⟨x⟩ and ⟨c⟩ of the Latin perfect and supine were introduced by analogy with other verbs.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 13th century.^[2][4] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda uses it as the opposite of “to die”, for spending one's life, and for “to dwell”.^[3] A satirical cantiga by Afonso Fernandez Cubel has viver no alheo “to live off other people's goods”: nen er quer que eu viva no alheo “nor does he want me to live off others”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The derivatives avivar and avivamento are recorded in the 14th century and reviver in the 15th.^[4] Barbosa (1611) lists phrases for living long, virtuously and badly.^[7] Bluteau (1712–1728) says the verb is used of plants too, “because they have a vegetative soul”.^[8] The infinitive is also a noun, o viver “life, way of life”.^[9][10][1]

Modern dictionaries add “to enjoy life”, “to live on (a food)”, “to make one's living from” and “to go through (an experience)”.^[2][11] The verb passed into Papiamentu as biba.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, as vivia and uiuer.^[2]
• 13th century – the Cancioneiro da Ajuda has vivo, vive, viverei and the preterite vevi.^[3]
• 1391 – the spelling vyue.^[2]
• 14th century – beuer; first records of avivar.^[2][4]
• 15th century – first record of reviver.^[4]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists phrases such as viver muitos annos.^[7]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau extends the verb to plants.^[8]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin vivere.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To live, be alive: O avô dela ainda vive.^[2][1]
2. To last, endure, live on: A memória dele vive entre nós.^[13][14]
3. To make the most of life, to enjoy it.^[2][11]
4. To reside, dwell: Vivem numa casa junto ao rio.^[1][11]
5. To live on, feed on (with de).^[11][15]
6. To make one's living from (with de): viver da pesca.^[11]
7. To spend (a life); to go through (an experience).^[16][11]
8. To live together, cohabit (with com).^[11]
9. To behave, conduct oneself in a certain way.^[15]

Noun

1. life; way of life, lifestyle.^[1][10]

Word family

• avivar
• avivamento
• reavivar
• reviver

Related words

• vivo
• vivenda
• vida
• vivência
• conviver
• convívio
• Latin vīvō
• Galician vivir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. viver
3. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. viver
4. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. viver
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9411
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. viver
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. viver
9. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. viver
10. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. viver
11. ^ a b c d e f g Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 9556
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 977
13. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. viver
14. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. viver
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. viver
16. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. viver