survive English · revision 4703

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1473|origins=la supervivere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /səˈvaɪv/, US /sɚˈvaɪv/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|surviven]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|survivre]], Old French sourvivre,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-lat|supervīvere|t=to live beyond, outlive]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from super “over, beyond” and vīvere “to live”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*gʷeyh₃-|alt=*gwei-|t=to live]].^(Etymonline) Barnhart suggests it was partly a back-formation from the earlier legal term survivor (1425).^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[revive]], [[vivid]] and [[quick]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To continue to live after another's death, especially in the legal sense of inheritance: 1473 in the OED and Barnhart, in the Rolls of Parliament;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) implied in ''surviving'' from the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To remain alive after another person's death is from 1572, and after an event or danger from 1588.^(OED 1989) To continue to exist after something has ended is from 1593.^(OED 1989) In law, of an estate passing to the survivors, it is from 1648.^(OED 1989) The trivial ''I'll survive'' is from 1902.^(OED 1989) ''Survival'' is from 1598, in Chapman's Homer,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''the survival of the fittest'' was coined by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology (1865).^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1425 – ''survivor'', in law.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1473 – to live on after another's death.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1572 – to outlive someone.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – to come through an event alive.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – ''survival''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1865 – ''survival of the fittest''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1902 – ''I'll survive''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To continue to live or exist, especially after a [[danger]] or difficulty.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To live through an accident, war or illness.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To live longer than someone; to [[outlive]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To manage to cope with a difficult situation.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[survivor]]

+ * [[survivable]]

+ * [[surviver]]

+ * [[unsurvived]]

+ * [[unsurviving]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[convive]]

+ * [[revive]]

+ * [[survival]]

+ * [[vivid]]

+ * [[vital]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}