Lived, meaning “having a certain kind or extent of life,” is not derived from the preterit and past participle of the verb live , but from the noun life , to which the suffix -ed has been added. The original pronunciation, therefore, and one still heard, is , 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 in such combinations as long-lived and short-lived. Both pronunciations are considered standard.
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at life, -ed 3
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Although at least three other crocodile species lived farther south in the Eastern Rift Valley, Crocodylus lucivenator appears to have had the Hadar region largely to itself.
From Science Daily • Jun. 13, 2026
The car’s history included one owner who, according to the salesman, lived nearby and mainly drove it around the borough.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026
Hockney lived by that command for the rest of his life, turning out canvas after canvas, photo after photo.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
The fossil's anatomy suggests it lived in much the same way.
From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026
At first, we lived on the far side of the river, at the edge of the tundra, a great treeless place.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
