a. Also 7 -lif’t. [f. LONG a. + live, LIFE sb. + -ED2. Often pronounced lρŋlivd, as if etymologically parallel to smooth-spoken, etc.] Having a long life or existence; living or lasting a long time; longeval.
a. 1420. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 570. Fader and moder honoure, That thow maist be longe lyved.
c. 1425. Cursor M., 1268 (Trin.). Longe lyued am I in elde.
1553. Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 22. They are long lyued and lyue euen vntyl an hundreth yeares of age.
1607. Walkington, Opt. Glasse, 41. Little eyes denotate a large cheverill conscience … spacious breasted, long-lif’t.
1609. Bible (Douay), Exod. xx. 12. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the earth.
1633. Earl Manch., Al Mondo (1636), 176. Seldom is excellencie in any kinde long lived.
1653. Walton, Angler, vii. 142. Bacon observes the Pike to be the longest lived of any fresh water fish.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 171. The Sea … produces Animals … more sound, and longer-liv’d, than any of the other Elements.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 230. The lion … is a very long-lived animal.
1883. Jefferies, Story Heart, i. (1891), 13. The long-lived summer days dried and warmed the turf in the meadows.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 374. Chronic uncured melancholies … are often long-lived.
Hence Longlivedness, longevity.
1872. Echo, 27 Sept. The long-livedness of the Mastai family.
1882. R. Adamson, in Encycl. Brit., XIV. 789/2. If … there can be discovered a reciprocating relation between the want of gall in animals and longlivedness.
