Pa. t. and pa. pple. lived. Forms: Inf. α. 1 libban, 2–4 li-, lybben, 3 Orm. libbenn. β. 1 lifian, lifiʓean, lyfan, -ian, leofian, -iʓean, Northumb. lifiʓa, 2–4 lifen, livien, 3 Orm. lifenn, 2–4, 6 liven; 3 leofen, leofven, (lioven, luvien), 4–5 lif(f(e, (4 lijf, lyfve, luf(e), 4–6 lyve(n, lyvie, -yn, Sc. leif(f(e, leyff, lyf(f(e, 5 lyf(e, (4–5 liwe, -i, -y, lywe); 2, 4–5 lef(en, 4–5 leven, -yn, (4 levin, loven), 5 lewyn, 5–6 leve, 6–7 Sc. leaf, leiv(e, 4– live. Pa. t. 1 lifode, -ade, lifde, 2–5 livede, 4– lived. Pa. pple. 1 ʓelifd, 3–4 y-lyved, i-lyved, (6 liven, lyven), 3– lived. [A Common Teutonic weak vb.: OE. libban (WS.), lifian, lifʓan (Anglian and in poetical texts), pa. t. lifode, lifde, corresp. to OFris. libba, liva, leva, OS. libbian, pa. t. pl. libdun (Du. leven), OHG. lebên (MHG., mod.G. leben) to live, ON. lifa to live, remain (Sw. lefva to live, quar-lefva to remain, Da. leve to live), Goth. liban, pa. t. libaida to live:—OTeut. stem *liƀǣ-, f. root *lĭƀ- (: laiƀ-) to remain, continue, whence LIFE sb., q.v. for cognate words.]
1. intr. To be alive; to have life (see LIFE 1 b) either as an animal or as a plant; to be capable of vital functions. † To live and look (see LOOK v.).
In this sense the simple present is now arch. or rhetorical; the compound present is living is the usual form.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, cxiii. 18. We ða ðe lifʓað we bledsiað dryhten.
971. Blickl. Hom., 57. Se lichoma buton mete & drence leofian ne mæʓ.
a. 1000. O. E. Chron., an. 901 (Parker MS.). He wolde oðer oððe þær libban oððe þær licʓan.
c. 1175. Pater Noster, in Lamb. Hom., 65. Ure gultes lauerd bon us forȝeuen al swa we doþ alle men þet liuen.
c. 1205. Lay., 4668. Ich sugge þe to soðe þat ȝet leoueð þi broðer.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 2262. Tu schalt libben, & beon leof & wurð me.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17408. Þe lauerd liues yee did on rode.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 17. Þat to þe kyng Egbriht alle were þei gyuen For þer heritage þer to die or lyuen.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), iii. 9. Þerfore may na beste ne fewle liffe þare.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xiv. 95. And, certys, for to lyf or dy I shall not fayll.
15[?]. Interl. 4 Elem., 452. I am for you so necessary Ye can not lyue without me.
1529. Rastell, Pastyme (1811), 33. He was crownyd lyuing hys fader by pope Johnn.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, v. 51. Now this second Plant liued in the first, ere it liued in itselfe, and al liuing wights do liue, moue, and feele … afore they come forth.
1611. Bible, Gen. xlv. 3. And Ioseph said … Doeth my father yet liue?
1677. Gale, Crt. Gentiles, II. IV. 309. Plants are said by some kind of analogie to live … yet they cannot be said properly to live…. Brutes are said properly to live, because they have a true self-motion.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), II. 198. Those parts may be said to live no longer when the circulation ceases.
1821. Shelley, Adonais, xli. He lives, he wakes—’tis Death is dead, not he.
1838. Lytton, Leila, I. ii. Yonder stream is of an element in which man cannot live nor breathe.
1862. J. F. Stephen, Def. R. Williams, 296. A more eminent or more excellent man hardly ever lived.
b. fig. of things: To exist, be found. poet.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., II. ii. 79. We are on the earth Where nothing liues but crosses, care and greefe. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, III. i. 110. No glory liues behinde the backe of such.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xcv[i]. 11. There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxxxvi. 4. In all that bodily largeness, Lives not a grain of salt, breathes not a charm anywhere.
2. To supply oneself with food; to feed, subsist. Const. † by, † of, on, upon, † with, rarely † in (either the actual food or the means of providing it). To live on a person: to burden him with one’s maintenance.
971. Blickl. Hom., 51. Godes is þæt yrfe þe we biʓ leofiaþ.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 62. Eft ʓenim swines scearn þæs þe on dun lande and wyrtum libbe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 7775. Cullfre ne lifeþþ nohht bi flessh.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 573. Foueles waren ðer-inne cumen … And mete quorbi ðei miȝten liuen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11109. Ion liued wit rotes and wit gress, Wit honi o þe wildernes.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 242. Many … þat wolen make hem self gentel men and han litel or nouȝt to lyue on. Ibid. (1382), Matt. iv. 4. A man lyueth not in breed aloon.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXII. 217. Tresour to lyue by to here lyues ende.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lxxxix. 411 (Add. MS.). She … leuyd … many yeres with rotes and grasse, and such Frute as she myght gete.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IX. 288. Leiff on your awin.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccvii. 244. They coude fynde nothynge to lyue by in the playne countrey.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 92 b. To whom the kyng assigned an honest pencion to live on.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. (1882), 42. [They] are to be compelled to worke, and not to liue vpon other mens labours.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 147. The Agriophagi … liue most of panthers and lions flesh.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xlii. 294. They that served at the Altar lived on what was offered.
1670. Eachard, Cont. Clergy, 20. A person, at all thoughtfull of himself and conscience, had much better chuse to live with nothing but beans and pease-pottage.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 264, ¶ 2. Irus … spent some Time after with Rakes who had lived upon him.
1747. Wesley, Prim. Physic (1762), 35. For Asthma … live a fortnight on boiled Carrots.
1802. Paley, Nat. Theol., xvi. 5, Wks. 1830, IV. 194. The spider lives upon flies.
1852. R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour, iii. 9. He then lived on his ‘means’ for a while.
1889. Jessopp, Coming of Friars, ii. 84. Sometimes they were … living upon their friends.
b. fig.
971. Blickl. Hom., 57. Þa gastlican lare … þe ure saul biʓ leofaþ.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 15614 (Fairf.). I warne ȝou to … liue a-pon his lare.
1754. J. Shebbeare, Matrimony (1766), I. 246. They … agreed … to live on Letters, till the painful age should be lapsed which held them apart.
1844. A. B. Welby, Poems (1867), 49. To live untill this tender heart On which it lives is dead.
3. To procure oneself the means of subsistence. Const. by, † of, on or upon, † with. Also, to live from HAND TO MOUTH. To live by one’s wits: see WIT.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., IV. iv. (Schipper), 371. [Hi] be heora aʓenum handʓewinne lifiʓeaþ.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 964. Þe scottes sede þat þet lond noȝt inou be To hom bothe to libbe by as hii miȝte ise.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. XI. 272. A feloun was sauid Þat hadde lyued al his lyf with lesinges & þeftis.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), IV. 311. He made his douȝtres use hem to wolle craft … þey schulde ȝif hem nedede lyve by þe craft.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 160. Comoun womman, þat leuyth by here body.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 210. Item, þe galle of euery fowl, þat lyueþ by raueyne doþ þe same.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, iii. [He] lyued by the laboure of his handes pourely.
1530. Palsgr., 612/2 Thou lyvest of nothyng but of pollyng.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 174 b. Men … had lived by the kynges wages, more then a few yeres.
1602. 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass., III. iii. 1291. A dunce I see is a neighbourlike brute beast, a man may liue by him.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. xix. 178. They lived of fishing at sea, and of seeds.
1628. Earle, Microcosm., Surgeon (Arb.), 62. His gaines are very ill got, for he liues by the hurts of the Common-wealth.
1675. Brooks, Gold. Key, Wks. 1867, V. 295. God left man … to live … by his own industry.
1713. Steele, Englishm., No. 24. 161. A whimsical Fellow … liv’d upon setting Stones in Wrist-Buttons.
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), II. 428. Every one … must live by his trade.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., Prel. Why should he reverence Nature? Let him use her and live by her.
1887. Jessopp, Arcady, i. 11. Those luxuries which the big man consumes … the small man lives by.
b. Proverb. Live and let live.
1622. Malynes, Anc. Law-Merch., 229. According to the Dutch Prouerbe … Leuen ende laeten leuen, To liue and to let others liue.
1687. R. L’Estrange, Answ. Diss., 43. And what’s the Whole Bus’ness at last; but Live, and let Live.
1885. W. Morris, in Mackail, Life (1899), II. 136. Two or three people are of no use, and are kept-on on the live-and-let-live principle.
4. To pass life in a specified fashion, indicated by an adv. or advb. phrase (occas. an adj. or compl. sb.) having reference
a. to the manner of regulation of conduct, esp. in a moral aspect.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., I. xxvii. (Schipper), 61. Hu hie mid heora ʓeferum drohtian & lifiʓean [MS. B. lifian] scylan?
c. 1200. Ormin, 372. And ȝuw maȝȝ ben þiss ilke word God lare hu ȝuw birrþ libbenn.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4025. Hit is ney vif ȝer þat we abbeþ yliued in such vice.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 581. Þaȝ þou a sotte lyuie,… by-þenk þe symtyme.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 288. Leden clanliche our lif & libben as simple.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xiv. (Lucas), 32. How þai liffyt her but blame.
1426. Audelay, Poems, 2. He that levys here ryȝtwysly.
1472. Presentm. Juries, in Surtees Misc. (1890), 24. Thomas Dransfeld … now liffez as a vacabond.
1538. Starkey, England, I. i. 9. Wych tyme he lyuyd more vertusely.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., Stat. Robt. II., 39. Ilk ane of them sall leaue leallie and trewlie in their office.
1657–83. Evelyn, Hist. Relig. (1850), I. 174. They live like goats, and die like asses.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 63. Living on this wise, we … shall pass our days in good hope.
b. to personal conditions, e.g., degree of happiness, comfort, splendor, repute, or the contrary. † To live away: to lead a life of extravagance. To live in clover (see CLOVER 3). To live fast (see FAST adv. 7).
Beowulf (Z.), 99. Swa ða driht-guman dreamum lifdon eadiʓlice.
c. 1200. Ormin, 5207. Þær he shollde libbenn Wiþþ resste and ro.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 535 (MS. α). Þer abbeþ kinges & mani oþere ofte ilyued in ioie.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11132. To speke of nedes of þair huse Als dos þe men þat liues in spus.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1588. Þus þei left in likyng a god while after.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 228. He levys at ess that frely levys!
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, iii. (St. Andrew), 944. To luf in contemplacione.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 9760. And fele … fre kynges frusshet to dethe, Þat might haue leuyt as lordes in þere lond yet.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xii. Better worthe is to lyue in pouerte surely then to lyue rychely beyng euer in daunger.
a. 1572. Knox, Hist. Ref., Wks. 1846, I. 364. To suffer everie man to leaf at libertie of conscience.
1611. Bible, Acts xxvi. 5. After the most straitest sect of our religion, I liued a Pharisee.
1643. Trapp, Comm., Gen. xxi. 15. Who erst lived at the full in his fathers house.
1703. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., II. 181. He that would have his health hold out must not live too fast.
1719. J. T. Phillips, trans. Thirty-four Confer., 316. The Inhabitants live very easie and happily in all these Four Provinces.
1767. H. Kelly, Babler, No. 111. II. 218. Possessed of such a handsome sum, I considered it as nothing more than a proper compliment to my wife, to live away for some time, and therefore set up a smart post-chaise.
1807. E. S. Barrett, Rising Sun, II. 80. He set up for an esquire himself, lived away at a most extravagant rate, and neglected his business.
1810. S. Green, Reformist, I. 34. Old Mr. Ellingford, though he lived close, known to be immensely rich.
1836. W. E. Forster, in T. W. Reid, Life (1888), I. iii. 79. My parents are as poor as rats … and consequently we live in quite a small way.
1859. G. Meredith, Juggling Jerry, x. I … have lived no gipsy.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., i. (1889), 4. They lived very much to themselves, and scarcely interfered with the dominant party.
c. to the rule or guiding principle, or to the object and purpose of one’s life.
971. Blickl. Hom., 35. We ealne þysne ʓear lifdon mid ures lichoman willan.
a. 1225. Juliana, 75. Lusteð writen lare and luuieð þrefter.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in Lamb. Hom., 189. Þi deaþ … do me liuien to þe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16424. We [MS. He] haf vr lagh,… þat we liue wit al in land.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 281. Socrates seide þat meny men wil leve forto ete and drynke.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 20. Ane man lwffis notht god ower al thyng … na liffis notht efter his halie wil.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, iii. Wks. 1888, I. 23. Giue euerie man mycht leue according to his vocation.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 126. Euery man liue for himselfe.
1656. Stanley, Hist. Philos., v. (1701), 167/1. Maligned by those who lived after Tyrannical institutions.
a. 1716. Blackall, Wks. (1723), I. 3. Rules … such as all that call themselves Christ’s Disciples are oblig’d to observe and live by.
1840. Carlyle, Heroes, i. 5. It is not easy to understand that sane men could ever … live by such a set of doctrines. Ibid. (1858–65), Fredk. Gt., II. i. (1872), IV. 24. They saw no society; lived wholly to their work.
d. To live well: (a) to have abundance, to feed luxuriously; (b) to be in comfortable circumstances; (c) to live a virtuous life.
For well to live = ‘well to do,’ prosperous, see WELL adv.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 5393. Þus was þe kowherd out of kare kindeli holpen,… wel to liuen for euer.
1530. Palsgr., 612/2. I shal lyue well ynoughe without you.
1620. Shelton, Quix., III. xx. 141. He preaches well that lives well, quoth Sancho, and I know no other Preaching.
1796. Pegge, Anonym. (1809), 64. If you would live well for a week, kill a hog; if you would live well for a month, marry; if you would live well all your life, turn priest.
1807–26. S. Cooper, First Lines Surg. (ed. 5), 68. Carbuncles seem … most common in persons who have lived well.
e. To live in (or within) oneself: to rely upon oneself for occupation and diversion, opposed to living ‘in society.’
a. 1674. Clarendon, Tracts, 293. They live to and within themselves.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), II. 125. Living much within himself … his chief amusement was his collection.
1872. J. L. Sanford, Eng. Kings, Chas. I., 333. His mind had been prepared for the application of these lessons by that early necessity of living very much in himself.
f. With up. † (a) To live up: fig. to live on a high level; to take a high intellectual or moral position. (b) To live up to: to act in full accordance with (principles, rules, etc.). Also, to push expenditure to the full limits of (one’s fortune).
1682. Dryden, Relig. Laici, 209. Those who followed Reason’s dictates right, Lived up, and lifted high their natural light.
1694. Atterbury, Serm. & Disc. (1726), I. 72. The Rule is strict indeed; but … there are Great Helps … enabling us to live up to it.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 125, ¶ 1. All those who do not live up to the Principles of Reason and Virtue.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 163, ¶ 4. I am one of your Disciples, and endeavour to live up to your Rules.
1832. J. S. Knowles, Hunchback, I. i. 9. Your fortune … is ample; And doubtless you live up to’t.
1837. G. E. Corrie, 17 Sept., in Mem., iv. (1890), 90. I had an interesting conversation with the Squire on the duty of living up to one’s convictions.
5. quasi-trans. with cognate obj. = 4.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom. (Th.), II. 476/16. Se cyning Eglippus leofode his lif on eawfæstre drohtnunge.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 115. He scal … for godes eie libban his lif rihtliche.
a. 1300–1400. Cursor M., 10175 (Gött.). Sua haly lijf þai liued euer.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 686. Þou hast y-lyued þy lif to longe to do me such a spyte.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 171. How prestis schulde lyfue [printed lyfne] a pore lif.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 40. What lyfe he lyffyd þe treuth ys tald.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 15 b. They that lyueth the holy lyfe of religyon.
1567. Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.), 72. We suld … Leif in the warld a lyfe perfyte.
1594. Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, IV. iii. E 3. This is no life for men at armes to liue.
1660. Jer. Taylor, Worthy Commun., 35. To live the life of the spirit.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 530, ¶ 4. It shall be my business hereafter to live the life of an honest man.
1853. M. Arnold, Scholar-Gipsy, xvii. And each half lives a hundred different lives.
1871. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 9. Montaigne,—content to live his life, leaving many questions open.
1895. Zangwill, Master, I. vii. 74. The panorama seemed more varied than when he was living the scenes in all their daily detail of dull routine.
b. transf. in Hunting. To keep up (the pace). Also absol. in phr. to live with hounds.
1840. Fraser’s Mag., XXII. 681. We whip and spur, but cannot live the pace.
1898. St. James’s Gaz., 15 Nov., 6/1. The check … was most welcome to the contingent who still lived with hounds.
6. quasi-trans. To live down: † a. To defeat by superiority of life (nonce-use). b. To put down, silence, wear out (prejudice, slander, etc.); to cause (some discreditable incident) to be forgotten by a blameless course of life. c. To lose hold of, forget (a fancy) as life goes on.
1687. Atterbury, Answ. Consid. Spirit Luther, Pref. (J.). A late Prelate, of a remarkable zeal for the establish’d Church; and who, were Religions to be try’d by Lives, would have liv’d down the Pope, and the whole Consistory.
1842. Miall, in Nonconf., II. 1. It has lived down prejudice.
1884. Rider Haggard, Dawn, xxix. It is very probable that your cousin will live down his fancy.
1893. Gunter, Miss Dividends, 158. How long do you think it will take in New York society for a girl with sixty thousand dollars a year to live anything down?
7. trans. To express in one’s life; to carry out in one’s life the principles of.
1542. Becon, Potation for Lent, L vj b. Not only loue but also lyue ye Gospel.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., II. ix. 81. Our Minister lives Sermons.
1650. Trapp, Comm. Lev. xix. 37. Words not so much to bee read as lived.
1671. Flavel, Fount. of Life, ix. 26. He preached the Doctrine, and Lived the Application.
a. 1708. Beveridge, Thes. Theol. (1711), III. 147. Hereby you may be sure to live heaven upon earth in time.
a. 1770. Jortin, Serm. (1771), IV. i. 3. To say who is the Lord … is to deny God … and live a lie.
1874. Blackie, Self-Cult., 70. To live poetry, indeed, is always better than to write it.
8. intr. In an emphatic sense: To have life that is worthy of the name; to enjoy or use one’s life abundantly.
1606. Day, Ile of Guls, H iv b. They trewly liue, that liue in scorne of spight.
a. 1628. Preston, Breastpl. Love (1631), 194. One man may live more in a day than another in twenty.
1673. Shadwell, Epson Wells, II. i. 19. I have vow’d to spend all my life in London…. People do really live no where else.
1726–31. Tindal, Rapin’s Hist. Eng. (1743), II. XVII. 129. Well might I breathe but never think I lived.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xxix. While you are making the choice of life, you forget to live.
1827. Keble, Chr. Y., Ascension Day x. Our wasted frames feel the true sun, and live.
1851. Thackeray, Eng. Hum., v. (1858), 268. He was living up to the last days of his life.
1889. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms (1890), 317. Jack Dawson … didn’t care about anything but horses and dogs, and lived every day of his life.
9. To continue in life; to be alive for a longer or shorter period; to have one’s life prolonged. Also in phrases to live to (be or do so and so); Long live (formerly simply live) the king!
831. Charter, in O. E. Texts, 445. Gib eadwald leng lifiʓe ðonne cyneðryð, ʓeselle [etc.].
1154. O. E. Chron., an. 1137 (Laud MS.). Ȝif he leng moste liuen.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 225. He lefede nigon hundred ȝiere and xxxli.
c. 1205. Lay., 252. Ah lut ȝer he leouede.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7823. He … bihet, ȝif he moste libbe, þat he nolde misdo nammore.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2082. Noe … Liued fourti ȝere after þe flod.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 16. I schal leue hem lyflode … As longe as I liue.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 94. If þei ben not curid, þei lyuen þe lengere tyme.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., 259 (Douce MS.). Þou shal leve but a stert.
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 138. Wheþer he shal lyuen or dye of þe seeknesse.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 130 b. Criyng: sainct Denise, live kyng Charles.
1586. in Hearne, R. Glouc. (1724), 675/2. I am so unhappy to haue lyuen to see this unhappy daye.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., IV. iii. 114. Hath Cassius liu’d To be but Mirth and Laughter to his Brutus?
1615. W. Lawson, Country Housew. Gard. (1626), 7. Not suffring a Tree to liue the tenth part of his age.
1653. Walton, Angler, 153. Harme him [a frog] as little as you may possibly, that he may live the longer.
1699. R. L’Estrange, Erasm. Colloq. (1725), 210. If I live to come back again.
1718. Prior, Solomon, Pref. And in this kind Mr. Philips, had he lived, would have excelled.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 34. If he lives, I will carry him a Prisoner to the Commodore.
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 32/2. I should not have supposed he could live many hours.
1782. Cowper, Gilpin, 253. Now let us sing, Long live the king! And Gilpin, long live he!
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), II. 270. To the use of A. for 99 years, if he should so long live.
1844. Dickens, Mart. Chuz., xxxiv. Live and learn Mr. Bevan!
1893. Academy, 13 May, 412/1. Lord Carnarvon did not live to put the final touches to his translation.
fig. 1813. R. Thornton, 16 June, in Hansard, Parl. Debates, XXVI. 685. A great statesman … had once exclaimed, ‘Perish commerce—live the constitution!’
b. with † forth, on, † over.
c. 1200. Ormin, 17213. Acc ȝiff þatt he þatt fullhtnedd iss Her lifeþþ forþ onn erþe.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 141. Alfridus forsoþe after his blyndynge sent unto Hely liffed over but fewe dayes.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 13105. Made was this mariage þo mighty betwene,… And [they] lyuet furth in Lykyng a long tyme after.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., II. iii. 155. Shall I liue on, to see this Bastard kneele, And call me Father?
1866. M. Arnold, Thyrsis, iii. While the tree lived, he in these fields lived on.
1896. ‘M. Field,’ Attila, I. 20. I would rather drop down dead Than live on like my cousin.
c. said of the Deity and of spirits.
971. Blickl. Hom., 131. Þurh Godes fultum, þe lyfað & rixað a butan ende.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 23. Aud alle men shullen cume to libben echeliche.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1771. Þer as me liueð aa in blisse buten euch bale.
1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 77. I wold wot what it may the avayle To forsakyn the goddys wych leuyn ay.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, V. vii. 345. The Indians of Peru beleeved commonly that the Soules lived after this life.
d. To escape spiritual death.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xvi. (Magdalena), 15. Þe ded of synful I na wil bot þat he leife his syn & lif.
1435. Misyn, Fire of Love, II. xi. (1896), 99. Lern … to lufe þi makar, if þou desyre to lyfe qwhen þou hens passys.
1508. Fisher, 7 Penit. Ps. li. Wks. (1876), 103. I wyll not the deth of a synner, but that he be tourned from his wycked lyfe and leur.
1611. Bible, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. As I liue, saith the Lord God, I haue no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turne from his way & liue.
e. fig. (poet. and rhetorical). Of things: To survive, continue in operation.
1768. Gray, Elegy, 92. E’en in our Ashes live their wonted Fires.
1863. Woolner, My Beautiful Lady, 38. Nothing lives but perfect Love.
1896. ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Sowers, i. What little daylight there was lived on the western horizon.
1896. Athenæum, 24 April, 547/2. Blunders of this sort live long.
f. quasi-trans. To live out: to complete (a term of life); also to survive the end of (a period of time). Also dial. to survive (a person): see Eng. Dial. Dict.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lv. 23. The bloudthurstie and disceatfull shal not lyue out half their daies.
1899. Guy Boothby, Dr. Nikola’s Experiment, ii. 47–8. He was as certain as any one possibly could be that the chap could not live out the week.
Mod. I never thought he would live out the night. (Recent Dicts. give ‘to live out a war, a term of office, a century.’)
10. Chiefly of a vessel: To escape destruction; to remain afloat. Also quasi-trans. of persons. To live out (a storm): to escape destruction by.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., I. ii. 14. I saw your brother … binde himselfe … To a strong Maste, that liu’d vpon the sea.
1615. A. Stafford, Heav. Dogge, To Rdr. 17. I know there are Coltes who will venture to row in waters wherein (to vse the seafaring phrase) they cannot liue.
1675. Narborough, in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1694), 190. It was impossible for the Boat to live any longer in that Sea.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. xvi. (1840), 289. The savages in the boat never could live out the storm.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 142. Carrying out the King’s Mooring Barges so far to sea, where they could not live but in fine weather.
1838. Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), II. 145. A ferocious hurricane … so that nothing could ‘live’ afloat.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm. (1858), 15. I have seen a boat live in as bad a night as this.
11. To continue in the memory of men; to be permanently commemorated; to escape obliteration or oblivion.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. LXIX. xi. From out the booke [let the wicked] be crossed, Where the good men live engrossed.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., IV. ii. 45. Mens euill manners, liue in Brasse, their Vertues We write in Water.
1638. F. Junius, Paint. Ancients, 56. Let … the temples be graced with such sights; worke them out in ivorie; let them live in colours.
1688. Prior, to Countess Exeter, 13. Eliza’s glory lives in Spenser’s song. Ibid. (1718), Solomon, III. 264. A fancied kind of being to retrieve, And in a book, or from a building live.
1741. Watts, Improv. Mind, xvii. § 9 (1801), 190 (J.).
| Sounds which address the ear are lost, and die | |
| In one short hour; but that which strikes the eye | |
| Lives long upon the mind. |
1800–24. Campbell, Hallowed Ground, vi. To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xviii. IV. 131. One noble passage still lives, and is repeated by thousands who know not whence it comes.
a. 1873. Macready, Remin. (1875), I. 94. Cooke’s representation of the part … lived in my memory in all its sturdy vigour.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. viii. 21. So would he … give me those kind looks which live in me.
12. To make one’s abode; to dwell, reside. Also, to cohabit. Also with † forth. Of shop-assistants: to live in: to reside in the establishment; opposed to to live out. To live out (U.S. colloq.): to be in domestic service.
c. 1205. Lay., 6235. We wulleð … þe leofuen wið a to ure liue.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 518. Ðis fis wuneð wið ðe se grund, and liueð ðer eure heil and sund.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. X. 438. For-þi lyue we forth with lither men.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, VIII. i. (1554), 178. Decius … lived in deserte ferre out in wildernes.
c. 1450. Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 249. That haiit lywith in Lowthe many longe days.
1508. Dunbar, Poems, vii. 30. Welcum, therfor, abufe all livand leyd, Withe us to liue, and to maik recidence.
1580. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 266. He is not where he liues, but wher he loues.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., II. iii. 72. Here liued I, but now liue here no more.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., II. iv. § 2. It was their office to teach the people, and therefore it was necessary they should live among them.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, xiv. 283. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour, though he live next dore to a graceless nobleman.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 49, ¶ 4. The Coffee-house is the Place of Rendezvous to all that live near it.
1731. Gentl. Mag., I. 391/1. Bluster … has liv’d in the Country ever since.
1815. Ann. Reg., Chron., 49. The family, with whom she lived servant.
1855. ‘Marion Harland’ (Mrs. Terhune), Hidden Path, vii. 45. She has never lived out before—that is an advantage.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 80. Melesias and I live together, and our two sons live with us.
1891. Daily News, 14 July, 7/3. It was admitted that they lived together.
1895. Law Times, C. 133/2. The deceased lived in a cottage near the up side of the railway line.
1896. C. Booth, Life & Labour Lond., VII. 217. The majority of grocers’ assistants still live in. Ibid., 218. Men … who live out not unfrequently help themselves to food.
fig. a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter xvii. 50. Lord lifes in my hert.
1857. Pusey, Real Presence, i. (1869), 4. The Fathers, among whom, for these last twenty years, I have lived, as in my home.
b. To live in (a room, etc.): to occupy, inhabit; to treat as one’s ordinary abode. In quots. in indirect passive.
1885. Mrs. C. Praed, Head Station, I. 3. The veranda was more lived in than the sitting-room.
1895. Pall Mall Mag., March, 407. The drawing-room looked more lived-in than ever.
13. Comb. In names of plants: Live (for) ever, (a) = LIVE-LONG 1 and 2; (b) Everlasting Flower, Helichrysum. Live in idleness (= love-in-idleness), a name for the Heartsease or Pansy.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxcv. 517. It … may be kept … by the space of a whole yeere … wherefore our English women haue called it Liue long, or Liue for euer. Ibid., II. ccxcix. 705. Called … in English … Pansies, Liue in Idlenes.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Hearts-ease,… an Herb called … Live in Idleness,… or Pansies.
1715. Petiver, in Phil. Trans., XXIX. 355. Round Saddle-leaved Cape Live-ever. Elichrysum Capense.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 317. Live-ever, Sedum.
1763. J. Wheeler, Bot. & Gardener’s Dict., Liveever, Crassula.
1866. Treas. Bot., Livelong or Live-for-ever, Sedum Telephium.
1884. Burroughs, Fresh Fields, viii. (1895), 171. I did not catch a glimpse of … elecampane, live-for-ever, bladder campion, and others, of which I see acres at home.
