жить

Forms

жить (žitʹ) impf (perfective прожи́ть)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic жити (žiti), present живу (živu), from Proto-Slavic *žiti (“to live”), present *živǫ.^[1][2][3][4] The verb is common Slavic: Old Church Slavonic жити (žiti), Ukrainian жити (žyty), Belarusian жыць (žycʹ), Bulgarian живея (živéja, “I live”), Czech žíti and Polish żyć.^[2][5]

The Slavic verb continues the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gʷeih₃w- (“to live”), with a present stem in ⟨-w-⟩.^[1][3] Cognates include Old Prussian giwa (“lives”), Sanskrit जीवति (jīvati, “lives”), Avestan ǰvaiti (“lives”), Latin vīvō (“to live”) and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”).^[2][5] The infinitive itself is matched by Lithuanian gýti (“to heal, to come back to life”) and Latvian dzīt (“to heal”).^[2][6] Tsyganenko and ESRJa explain the infinitive as an old dative of a noun *žitь (“life”), which survives in Old Russian жить (žitĭ, “life”) and dialect пажить “pasture”.^[7][5] Initial ⟨ж⟩ is the Slavic outcome of /g/ before a front vowel; the other ablaut grade kept /g/ in гой and изгой.^[7][3] живой, жизнь, живот and жито are of the same root.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chernykh dates the verb in Old Russian from the 11th century, with the senses “to live” and “to feed oneself”.^[9] The Sinai Paterik, in a copy of the 11th–12th century, says of the blessed that they „въ вѣкы живутъ” “live for ever”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Russian жити meant “to exist”, “to graze, feed oneself” and “to dwell”;^[7] Tsyganenko describes the modern verb as a narrowing of these senses.^[7] SlRJa records “to sustain oneself on something” (rainwater, in the 15th-century copy of Abbot Daniel's pilgrimage), “to dwell somewhere” (a monk's cell full of demons, 12th–13th century) and “to lead a certain kind of life” (living поганьскы “like pagans”).^[10] The iterative живати is known from the 11th century, and Chernykh dates it from the 15th.^[3][9]

In the north, жить is said of berries, mushrooms and grasses in the sense “to grow, to come up”.^[11] Dialects also use it of the weather, in the sense “to be, to occur”.^[12] Michelson records жить как паша “to live like a pasha”, in Gogol.^[13]

Timeline

• 11th century – жити “to live, to feed oneself” in Old Russian.^[9]
• 11th–12th century – живутъ “they live” in the Sinai Paterik.^[10]
• 11th century – the iterative живати.^[3]
• 12th–13th century – живущихъ “dwelling” (of demons in a cell) in the Life of Theodosius.^[10]
• 1496 – “to live on” rainwater in a copy of Abbot Daniel's pilgrimage.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To live, to exist, to be alive.^[14][15][1]
2. (figurative) Of thoughts and feelings, to be present: a hope живёт in people.^[14]
3. To reside, to live somewhere or with someone.^[14][1]
4. To live on something, to support oneself by it.^[14][16]
5. To be wholly taken up with someone or something: to live for one's children or for science.^[17]
6. To lead a certain kind of life: to live well, to live in poverty.^[16]

Word family

• житьё
• житель
• жилец
• жильё
• жилище
• выжить
• дожить
• зажить
• нажить
• ожить
• пережить
• прожить
• ужиться
• поживать

Related words

• вживить
• вживлять
• живительный
• живой
• жизнь
• нажива
• оживить
• оживлять
• живот
• жито
• изгой
• Old East Slavic жити (žiti)

Usage notes

The perfective partner is прожить.^[1] SlRJa XI–XVII and the 18th-century dictionary also record a feminine noun жить “life”, later “a room” or “a storey” of a building (палаты… в пять житей, 1674).^[10][18][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 52
3. ^ a b c d e Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 1, 274
4. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 562
5. ^ a b c Shansky, N. M.; Zhuravlev, A. F. (eds.) (1963–2007), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], vols. 1–10 (A–M), Moskva: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, p. 5, s.v. жить
6. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 57
7. ^ a b c d Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. жить
8. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. жить
9. ^ a b c Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 1, s.v. жить
10. ^ a b c d e f Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 5, 115
11. ^ Myznikov, S. A. (2019), Russkij dialektnyj ètimologičeskij slovar'. Leksika kontaktnyx regionov [Русский диалектный этимологический словарь. Лексика контактных регионов], Moskva / Sankt-Peterburg: Nestor-Istorija, p. 195
12. ^ Filin, F. P.; Sorokoletov, F. P.; Myznikov, S. A. (eds.) (1965–), Slovar' russkix narodnyx govorov [Словарь русских народных говоров], vols. 1–51, Moskva / Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 9, 193
13. ^ Michelson, M. I. (1902–1903), Russkaja mysl' i reč'. Svoe i čužoe. Opyt russkoj frazeologii [Русская мысль и речь. Свое и чужое. Опыт русской фразеологии], 2 vols., Sankt-Peterburg, p. s.v. Как паша, набоб, жить
14. ^ a b c d Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. жить
15. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. жить
16. ^ a b Efremova, T. F. (2000), Novyj slovar' russkogo jazyka. Tolkovo-slovoobrazovatel'nyj [Новый словарь русского языка. Толково-словообразовательный], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. жить
17. ^ Kuznetsov, S. A. (ed.) (1998), Bol'šoj tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой толковый словарь русского языка], Sankt-Peterburg: Norint, p. s.v. жить
18. ^ Barkhudarov, S. G. et al. (eds.) (1975–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XI–XVII vv. [Словарь русского языка XI–XVII вв.], vols. 1–31, Moskva: Nauka / Azbukovnik / Lexrus, p. 5, 120
19. ^ Sorokin, Yu. S. et al. (eds.) (1984–), Slovar' russkogo jazyka XVIII veka [Словарь русского языка XVIII века], vols. 1–24, Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. s.v. жить