sopravvivere Italian · revision 38536

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=before 1342, Domenico Cavalca|origins=la vīvō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /so.pravˈvi.ve.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sopravvivere''' (first-person singular present sopravvìvo, first-person singular past historic sopravvìssi, past participle sopravvissùto, first-person singular future sopravvivrò or sopravviverò, auxiliary èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''sopravivere'', ''sovravivere'' and the obsolete ''sorvivere''.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|supravīvō|alt=supravīvere]], a Late Latin variant of [[la|supervīvō|alt=supervīvere|t=to outlive]], with the prefix remade on [[sopra]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Tommaseo cites the classical verb from Pliny and Apuleius, and the form with ⟨supra-⟩ from an inscription from Benevento.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Wiktionary and Gabrielli instead treat it as an Italian compound of [[sopra-]] and [[vivere]], formed on the Latin model.^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The Latin verb is [[m|la|super|t=over, beyond]] or [[m|la|suprā|t=above]] with [[m|la|vīvō|t=to live]], which continues [[itc-pro|*gʷīwō]] and [[ine-pro|*gʷíh₃weti|t=to live]], the source also of [[grc|βίος|tr=bíos|t=life]] and [[sa|जीवति|tr=jīvati|t=lives]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Domenico Cavalca (before 1342), in the sense of living on after others have died or escaping a disaster: in his lives of the Desert Fathers “Panuzio sopravvisse un giorno” (Paphnutius lived one day longer).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense of living on in memory is dated by DELI to Paolo Segneri (1673), and the weakened sense “to last, persist” of customs and ideas to the Milanese press of 1812.^(DELI 1999) The participle ''sopravvissuto'' is recorded as a noun, a survivor, by the Crusca dictionary of 1691; around 1942 Panzini noted its disparaging use for people behind the times.^(DELI 1999) ''Sopravvivenza'' (before 1644) once also meant, in Tuscan edicts of 1595, the right to an office not yet vacant.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Modern dictionaries add the senses of a species escaping extinction and of barely getting by on little money.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The verb takes ''essere'' and has two future forms, ''sopravvivrò'' and ''sopravviverò''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca has ''sopravvivere'' “to outlive”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1644 – ''Sopravvivenza'' is recorded in Guido Bentivoglio.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1673 – Paolo Segneri uses it for living on in memory.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1691 – The Crusca dictionary has ''sopravvissuto'' “survivor”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1812 – The Milanese press uses it for “to persist”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – Panzini notes ''sopravvissuto'' for someone behind the times.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|outlive]] someone, to go on living after other people have died (with ''a''): ''Mia nonna è sopravvissuta a tutte le sue sorelle.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|survive]] a disaster, accident or illness: ''Solo tre passeggeri sono sopravvissuti all'incidente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a plant or animal species, to escape [[m|en|extinction]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To get by, to scrape a living: ''Con quello stipendio riesce appena a sopravvivere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To live on in memory after death.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To last, to remain in use: ''In quel paese sopravvivono vecchie feste contadine.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sopravvissuto]]

+ * [[sopravvivenza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vivere]]

+ * [[la|supervīvō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}