survival

American  

[ser-vahy-vuhl] / sərˈvaɪ vəl /

noun

• survivals
  plural

1. the act or fact of surviving, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances.

2. a person or thing that survives or endures, especially an ancient custom, observance, belief, or the like.

3. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) the persistence of a cultural trait, practice, or the like long after it has lost its original meaning or usefulness.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or for use in surviving, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances.

   survival techniques.

survival British  

/ səˈvaɪvəl /

noun

1. a person or thing that survives, such as a custom

2. 1. the act or fact of surviving or condition of having survived

   2. ( as modifier )

      survival kit

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsurvival
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• survivals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of survival

First recorded in 1590–1600; survive + -al ²

Explanation

As a wise man once said, “The history of the world, my sweet, is who gets eaten and who gets to eat.” That’s survival in a nutshell. It’s the act of continuing to live, usually when others fail. As the Bee Gees put it in disco’s heyday — survival means “staying alive.” If you look closely, you’ll spot viv in the middle of survival. That’s part of the Latin verb vivere, meaning “to live.” You might recognize it from words like vivid "lively" and vivacious "full of life." Combine it with sur- (over) and you’ll grasp the essence of survival: to keep existing despite hardship or after others die. Charles Darwin’s term survival of the fittest means that only the best equipped live will reproduce and survive.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

survival survivals

For most restaurants, even the very high-end ones, working with the apps is a matter of survival.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

"If the entire colony was exposed, this could lead to decreased pollination effectiveness and reduced honey production, risking colony survival and long-term stability."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

It represented years of labor, centuries of knowledge and an entire community’s economic survival.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

"Some concerns include disruption to food security for the people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, who rely on the ocean resources for their survival," Apatang told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Some kind of survival instinct took over at that point.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Most existing Celtic objects—found in bogs and burial mounds—are durable works in stone, bone, glass, metal and terracotta with rare survivals in wood, leather and cloth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

And there is Van Gogh's At Eternity's Gate - one of the very rare survivals of his first printmaking campaign during which he produced six lithographs in November 1882.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2025

So, a therapy specifically aimed at preserving high intratumour heterogeneity may make sense according to this theoretical approach, as it may slow cancer growth and thus lead to longer survivals.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2023

They’ll tell and retell their story at family gatherings and online, sharing pictures and news reports of survivals like their own, or far bigger tragedies.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 13, 2017

Gem-engraving and jewelry follow similar lines; pottery-painting for the most part remains geometrical throughout, with crude survivals of Mycenaean curvilinear forms.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

Related Words

• continuity
• durability
• endurance