lived

[ lahyvd, livd ]

adjective

having life, a life, or lives, as specified (usually used in combination): a many-lived cat.

Origin of lived

A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at life, -ed³

pronunciation note For lived

Lived, meaning “having a certain kind or extent of life,” is not derived from the preterit and past participle of the verb live

[liv], /lɪv/, but from the noun life

[lahyf], /laɪf/, to which the suffix -ed has been added. The original pronunciation, therefore, and one still heard, is

[lahyvd], /laɪvd/, 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] /lɪvd/ in such combinations as long-lived and short-lived. Both pronunciations are considered standard.

Other words from lived

half-lived, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lived in a sentence

Most coup members “lived in the diaspora in the United States and Germany,” Faal said.
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | 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.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Could he have won the White House in 1992, and if he had, would he have lived up to his ideals?
President Cuomo Would’ve Been a Lion | Jonathan Alter | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
We are not told that Cooper had been able to vote without hindrance when she lived in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’ | Gary May | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
That is the difference between the protections embedded in our Bill of Rights and the lived lives of our citizenry.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face? | Goldie Taylor | December 30, 2014 | 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.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
At this moment Mrs. Chepstow lived in Isaacson's thought that she looked younger, less faded, and more beautiful.
Bella Donna | Robert Hichens
But before he could even sow that year's crop, he would have to see a certain banker who lived in Nebraska.
The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux
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!
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
Prud'hon, in humiliation and despair, lived in a solitude almost complete.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine Clement

British Dictionary definitions for -lived

-lived

/ (-lɪvd) /

adjective

having or having had a life as specified: short-lived

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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