Etymology
1. O.E.
lifian (Anglian),
libban (W.Saxon) "to be alive," also "to supply oneself with food, to pass life (in some condition)," from P.Gmc. stem
*libæ (cf. O.N.
lifa, O.Fris.
libba, Ger.
leben, Goth.
liban "to live"), from PIE base
*leip- "to remain, continue" (cf. Gk.
liparein "to persist, persevere;" see leave).
"According to the Dutch Prouerbe ... Leuen ende laetan leuen, To liue and to let others liue." [Malynes, 1622]
To
live it up "live gaily and extravagantly" is from 1951. To
live up to "act in accordance with" is from 1694. To
live (something) down "outwear (some slander or embarrassment)" is from 1842. To
live with "cohabit as husband and wife" is attested from 1749; sense of "to put up with" is attested from 1937.
Lived-in "inhabited, occupied" is first recorded 1873.
Live-in (adj.) first attested, 1955.
Liveable "suitable for living in" is from 1814, first attested in
"Mansfield Park." Expression
live and learn is attested from c.1620.
2. From Middle English lefe, lifen, libbe, libben, live, luvien, lyven, from Old English libban, lifian (“to live; be alive”), from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną (“to live”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick”).
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with Yola live (“to live”), North Frisian laawe, lawe, lewe, lewi, lewwe, lääwe (“to live”), Saterland Frisian lieuwje, líeuwje (“to live”), West Frisian libje (“to live”), Alemannic German läbe (“to live”), Cimbrian and Mòcheno lem (“to live”), Dutch leeven, leven (“to live”), German leben (“to live”), German Low German lęven (“to live”), Limburgish leve, léëve (“to live”), Luxembourgish liewen (“to live”), Vilamovian łaowa (“to live”), Yiddish לעבן (lebn, “to live”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål leve (“to live”), Faroese liva (“to live”), Icelandic lifa (“to live”), Norwegian Nynorsk leva, leve, liva (“to live”), Swedish leva (“to live”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liban, “to live”); also Latin lippus (“half-sighted, myopic”), Greek λίπος (lípos, “fat, tallow”), Lithuanian lipti (“to stick”), Bulgarian лепя́ (lepjá, “to glue, paste, stick; to plaster, smear”), Czech lepit (“to glue, stick”), Macedonian лепи (lepi, “to glue, stick”), Polish lepić (“to mold; to glue, paste; to stick”), Russian лепи́ть (lepítʹ, “to fashion, sculpt, shape”), Serbo-Croatian лепити, лије́пити, lépiti, lijépiti (“to glue, paste; to stick”), Slovak lepiť (“to stick”), Slovene lepiti (“to stick”), Ukrainian ліпити (lipyty, “to mould, shape”), Sanskrit लिप् (lip, “to anoint, smear; to defile, soil, taint”), रिप् (rip, “deceit, fraud; injury; enemy, traitor”). See: Old English '
libban', Proto-Germanic '
*libjaną', Frisian, Northern 'laawe', Frisian, Saterlandic 'lieuwje', Alemannic German '
läbe', Dutch '
leeven', German, old spelling '
leben', Luxembourgish '
liewen', Wymysorys '
łaowa', Faroese '
liva', Icelandic '
lifa', Norwegian, nynorsk '
leva', Swedish '
leva', Lithuanian '
lipti', Czech '
lepit', Macedonian '
лепи', Polish '
lepić', Russian '
лепи́ть', Serbo-Croatian '
лепити', Slovak '
lepiť', Slovene '
lepiti', Ukrainian '
ліпити', Sanskrit '
लिप्'.
Verbs referencing "live"
German, old spelling
leben, Icelandic
lifa, Norwegian, nynorsk
leva, Swedish
leva, Danish
leve, Norwegian
leve, German, Pennsylvania
lewe, Faroese
liva, Luxembourgish
liewen, Latvian
dzīvot, Proto-Slavic
lьnǫti, Proto-Slavic
lěpiti, Sanskrit
लिम्पति, Alemannic German
läbe.