long lived

long-lived

Use long lived in a sentence

adjective

The definition of long lived is something that goes on or persists for an extended period of time.

An example of a long lived thought is something you believe for years and years.

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MLA Style

"long-lived." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived>.

APA Style

long-lived. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived

long-lived

having or tending to have a long life span or existence

Origin of long-lived

origin, originally from long (adjective) + live, form of life + -ed (sense ); later understood also as from long (adverb) + -lived

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MLA Style

"long-lived." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived>.

APA Style

long-lived. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived

long-lived

adjective

Having a long life: a long-lived aunt.
Lasting a long time; persistent: a long-lived rumor.
Functioning a long time; durable: a long-lived light bulb.

Origin of long-lived

Middle English long-lifed long long ; see long ¹. life life ; see life . -ed having ; see -ed ³.

Related Forms:

long′-lived′ness
noun

Word History: Some uncertainty exists as to the correct pronunciation of long-lived. Should one say (lông′līvd′) or (lông′lĭvd′)? The answer depends in part on how one looks at the word. Historically, the first pronunciation is the more accurate. The word was formed in Middle English times as a compound of long and the noun life, plus the suffix -ed. This suffix, though identical in form to the past tense suffix, has a different function: to form adjectives from nouns, as in the words hook-nosed, ruddy-faced, and round-shouldered. (Note that English has no verbs such as “to hook-nose,” and “to ruddy-face,” that would have formed participial adjectives ending in -ed. ) In Middle English, the suffix -ed was always pronounced as a full syllable, so long-lifed (as it was then spelled) had three syllables. The f in the middle, by a rule of earlier English phonology, was voiced between the two vowels to (v); eventually, the spelling became long-lived to reflect the pronunciation. (We see the same alternation in life and lives; in Middle English, lives had two syllables just like -lived. ) However, this new spelling introduced an ambiguity; it was no longer clear from the spelling that the word came from the noun life, but rather looked as though it came from the verb live. In this way a second pronunciation, (lông′lĭvd′), was introduced.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"long-lived." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived>.

APA Style

long-lived. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Long-lived

Adjective

(comparative more longlived, superlative most longlived)

Alternative form of long-lived.

Adjective

(comparative more long-lived, superlative most long-lived)

Having a long lifespan; surviving for a long period of time.

Usage notes

The pronunciation /laÉªvd/ (rhyming with hived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /lÉªvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.