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.

---

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

---

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

“A lot of folks have been in survival mode for such a long time,” she added, as the group worked on planning a fall event series on a recent afternoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Plus, the U.S. links Chinese satellite imagery to a deadly Iranian strike, and the ultimate workplace survival guide.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Although advances in treatment have dramatically improved survival over the past decade, surviving the initial attack does not always prevent serious long-term consequences.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

The tourists were battling for survival on 52-2 - 268 adrift of making England bat again - when the bad weather intervened for a second and final occasion in Birmingham.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Pained by what he saw as his country's decline, Gordievsky believed that his country's only hope for survival was to lose out to the West and to open itself up to democratic ideas.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

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

"The need to study these populations for a possible genetic management study became clear several years back, once there were indications that there were few infant births and even fewer infant survivals."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024

There’s also an ethical problem with pointing to previous survivals as evidence of future resilience.

From Slate ● Nov. 9, 2016

There are many survivals of the early epic lawlessness, as in "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Lear"; and in no play is the main action kept entirely free from intruding incongruities.

From Tragedy by Ashley H. Thorndike

Related Words

• continuity
• durability
• endurance