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

Scientists once thought this kind of survival was impossible.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Between the harshness of the jungle and the humanity of his encounters, this novel recounts survival in a dazzlingly poetic language,” Fnac said when announcing the book’s win.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Slipping into survival mode, going through the motions without feeling the crushing weight of the reality of a situation, can be an adaptive response when you’re in the middle of a crisis.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

References on Tuesday to leaving "no chance of survival" and "no hope" for future generations will likely have stoked similar alarm.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

It was a combination of his relentless stamina, survival skills, and mathematical mind that made him the perfect candidate to join one of Brazil’s boldest and most brutal projects—building the telegraph network.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

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

Iberia, too, had execution survivals that resolved in freedom for the executed.

From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2022

A few, indeed, are left, interesting survivals of the early Victorian age.

From Boy Labour and Apprenticeship by Reginald Arthur Bray

Related Words

• continuity
• durability
• endurance