v. Also 6 survyve, 7 Anglo-Irish surveywe. [a. AF. survivre, OF. so(u)rvivre (mod.F. survivre), = Pr. sobreviure, It. sorvivere, Sp. sobrevivir, Pg. -viver:—late L. supervīvĕre, f. super- SUPER- 2 + vīvĕre to live.]
1. intr. To continue to live after the death of another, or after the end or cessation of some thing or condition or the occurrence of some event (expressed or implied); to remain alive, live on.
1473. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 95/2. To have and perceyve the said cs yerely, to the said Mary and Robert, for the terme of their lyfes, and either of [them] survivyng.
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 25. Preamble, Lyfe [is] as uncertayne to suche as survyve as was to them now departed.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., I. xxv. 18. They testyfye that Porrex was slayne and Ferrex suruyuyd.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., IV. ii. 110. I did loue a Lady, But she is dead…. Sil. Say that she be: yet Valentine thy friend Suruiues.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 335. Many children borne the seuenth month suruiue and do well.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), II. 26. Wee … will in open fielde fight with as many of those our disparagers as longe as any of us will surveywe.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, II. 814. Look if your helpless Father yet survive; Or if Ascanius, or Creusa live.
1771. Junius Lett., lxi. (1788), 330. The son of that unfortunate prince survives.
1808. Scott, in Lockhart, Life, i. (1839), I. 33. He survived a few days, but becoming delirious before his dissolution, [etc.].
1894. H. Drummond, Ascent of Man, 278. Since there are vastly more creatures born than can ever survive, since for every morsel of food provided a hundred claimants appear, life to an animal was described to us as one long tragedy.
1911. Marett, Anthropology, iii. 70. To survive is to survive to breed. If you live to eighty, and have no children, you do not survive in the biological sense.
b. transf. To continue to exist after some person, thing or event; to last on.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 204. Yea though I die the scandale will suruiue.
1654. trans. Scudery’s Curia Pol., Ded. They survive to future Ages by their Actions.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1706. Though her body die, her fame survives.
a. 1721. Prior, To C’tess Dowager of Devonshire, 53. Thro’ circling Years thy Labours would survive.
1830. Scott, Hrt. Midl., Introd. A late amiable and ingenious lady, whose wit and power of remarking and judging of character still survive in the memory of her friends.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xxxviii. If any care for what is here Survive in spirits render’d free.
1885. Law Times, 9 May, 22/2. The mortgagor can inspect the title deeds while his right to redeem survives.
1907. Bp. Robertson, in Trans. Devon Assoc., 50. One of Becket’s murderers was a member of a Norman family whose name survives in place-names all over Devon.
c. Law. Of an estate, etc.: To pass to the survivor or survivors of two or more joint-tenants or persons who have a joint interest.
1648. Bury Wills (Camden), 205. Whereas by the death of the sayd Isabell my daughter the estate and interest in the said mortgaged premises … is survived and come to the sayd Catherine and Anne my daughters.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 425. If one died under age, his or her part would not descend, but survive to the others.
2. trans. To continue to live after, outlive. a. To remain alive after the death of (another).
1572. Huloet, s.v., To the entent that he may suruiue thee.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 125. And, for that dowrie, Ile assure her of Her widdow-hood, be it that she suruiue me In all my Lands and Leases whatsoeuer.
a. 1680. Glanvill, Sadducismus, II. (1681), 166. Thinking they had Souls surviving their bodies.
1772. Gentl. Mag., XLII. 245/1. The Lord Chancellor made an order for two issues at law to be tried, whether General Stanwix survived his Lady, or whether Mrs. Stanwix survived the General.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 568. Argyle, who survived Rumbold a few hours, left a dying testimony to the virtues of the gallant Englishman.
1880. Muirhead, Gaius, III. § 16. If he … is survived by children of brothers predeceased, the inheritance belongs to all of them.
b. To continue to live after (an event, point of time, etc.), or after the end or cessation of (a condition, etc.).
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., V. iii. 41. Because the Girle, should not suruiue her shame. Ibid. (1591), 1 Hen. VI., III. ii. 37. France, thou shalt rue this Treason with thy teares, If Talbot but suruiue thy Trecherie.
a. 1610. Parsons, Leicester’s Ghost (1641), 34. What others wrot before I doe survive.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to C’tess Mar, 16 Jan. If I survive my journey, you shall hear from me again.
1777. Priestley, Matter & Sp. (1782), I. xxii. 286. Whether brutes will survive the grave we cannot tell.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 631. When Swift had survived his faculties many years, the Irish populace still continued to light bonfires on his birthday.
1852. H. Rogers, Ecl. Faith (1853), 193. I see few of my youthful contemporaries who have not survived their infidelity.
1883. E. P. Roe, in Harper’s Mag., Dec., 52/2. I’ve known peach buds to survive fifteen below zero.
c. transf. To continue to exist after the death or cessation of (a person, condition, etc.), or after the occurrence of (an event); to outlast.
1633. P. Fletcher, Poet. Misc., Ps. i. ii. The soul … Still springs, buds, grows, and dying time survives.
1694. Addison, St. Cecilia’s Day, iv. Musick shall then exert its pow’r, And sound survive the ruins of the world.
1788. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xlix. V. 139. In his [sc. Charlemagne’s] institutions I can seldom discover the general views and the immortal spirit of a legislator, who survives himself for the benefit of posterity.
1847. Emerson, Repr. Men, Napoleon, Wks. (Bohn), I. 374. The principal works that have survived him are his magnificent roads.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, iii. It is pleasant to find that so much faith in your fellow-creatures survives the experience.
Hence Surviving vbl. sb., survival.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), IV. 173. Her surviving was a continuing act.
1900. Mary Kingsley, Notes, 203. No amount of experience in her husband’s habit of surviving ever made her feel he was safe.
