lived

[ lahyvd, livd ]

adjective

1. having life, a life, or lives, as specified (usually used in combination):

   a many-lived cat.

-lived

/ -lɪvd /

adjective

1. having or having had a life as specified

   short-lived

Pronunciation Note

Lived, meaning “having a certain kind or extent of life,” is not derived from the preterit and past participle of the verb live [liv], but from the noun life [lahyf], to which the suffix -ed has been added. The original pronunciation, therefore, and one still heard, is [lahyvd], which retains the vowel (ī) of life. Since the f of life changes to v with the addition of this suffix, as when leaf becomes leaved, this lived is identical in spelling with the preterit and past participle lived, and conflation of the two has led to the increasingly frequent pronunciation of this lived as [livd] in such combinations as long-lived and short-lived. Both pronunciations are considered standard.

Other Words From

• half-lived adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lived¹

A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; life, -ed ³

Example Sentences

Most coup members “lived in the diaspora in the United States and Germany,” Faal said.

From The Daily Beast

The fear of…Dad, of the war…yes, that…but something else…the fear that life is nor being lived right here now.

From The Daily Beast

Could he have won the White House in 1992, and if he had, would he have lived up to his ideals?

From The Daily Beast

We are not told that Cooper had been able to vote without hindrance when she lived in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

From The Daily Beast

That is the difference between the protections embedded in our Bill of Rights and the lived lives of our citizenry.

From The Daily Beast

But one thing remained for Felipe now, If Ramona lived, he would find her, and restore to her this her rightful property.

From Project Gutenberg

At this moment Mrs. Chepstow lived in Isaacson's thought that she looked younger, less faded, and more beautiful.

From Project Gutenberg

But before he could even sow that year's crop, he would have to see a certain banker who lived in Nebraska.

From Project Gutenberg

Blamed ef I'd lived in a country all my life, ef I wouldn't know better'n to git caught out in such weather's this!

From Project Gutenberg

Prud'hon, in humiliation and despair, lived in a solitude almost complete.

From Project Gutenberg