vivre French · revision 16348

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=ine-pro *gʷeyh₃-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vivʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vivre'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|vivre]], [[inh|la|vīvō|t=to live]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|14, 577b)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The Latin verb goes back to [[itc-pro|*gʷīwō]] and the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*gʷeyh₃-|t=to live]], also seen in [[grc|ζῆν|tr=zên]] and [[grc|βίος|tr=bíos]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The past forms in “véc-” (“vécu”, “vécus”) come from the Latin perfect stem “vīx-”, with metathesis to “visc-”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|vivere]], [[oc|viure]], [[ca|viure]], [[es|vivir]] and [[pt|viver]].^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==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).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The acclamation ''vive…!'' dates from about 1170, and ''âme qui vive'' “anyone”, with a negative, from 1690.^(DHLF 1992) ''Savoir vivre'', “to behave as society expects”, is recorded in 1466.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Used transitively, ''vivre'' meant “to spend (a life, a time)” (1549, ''vivre une belle vie''); ''vivre sa vie'' is a 20th-century phrase.^(DHLF 1992) The Latinism ''avoir vécu'' “to be dead” is in Corneille (1640), and ''avoir vécu'' “to have experience of life” in Voltaire (1759).^(TLFi) The infinitive used as a noun, ''le vivre'' (about 1130), survives in ''le vivre et le couvert'' and in the plural ''les vivres'' “provisions”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – ''Vivre'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1130 – The infinitive used as a noun, ''le vivre''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1170 – The acclamation ''vive…!''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Soi vivre de'', to earn one's living from.^(TLFi)

+ * 1466 – ''Savoir vivre''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – Transitive ''vivre une belle vie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1640 – ''Avoir vécu'' “to be dead” in Corneille's ''Horace''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Âme qui vive'' in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|live]], be alive, exist: ''la joie de vivre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To live in a certain way or place: ''vivre heureux'', ''vivre à Paris''.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Vivre de'': to live on, earn one's living from: ''vivre de son travail''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To [[m|en|experience]], go through: ''vivre une aventure''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Vive…!'': long live…!, an [[m|en|acclamation]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Savoir vivre'': to know how to behave in society.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vivant]]

+ * [[viveur]]

+ * [[vivoter]]

+ * [[revivre]]

+ * [[survivre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vif]]

+ * [[vivace]]

+ * [[vivement]]

+ * [[vivifier]]

+ * [[vivisection]]

+ * [[vie]]

+ * [[la|vīvō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''vivre'', also ''vouivre'', from [[la|vīpera|t=viper]], is a serpent in heraldry.^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|14, 487b) In Quebec ''vivoir'' was coined in 1913 for the living room, to avoid the English word.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}