alive

A2 Topic:House & Home

US /əˈlaɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #541

Meanings

1

adj
Living; not dead.

As long as the plant is alive, he will keep watering it.
2

adj
Full of energy, activity, or excitement.

The main street is quiet by day but comes alive at night.
3

adj
Still existing or in operation.

We worked hard to keep the tradition alive.
4

adj
Fully aware of or sensitive to something.

The company is alive to the risks of expanding too quickly.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · living; not dead. living

2 adj · full of energy, activity,... lively

3 adj · still existing or in... existing

More active animate animated extant kickinglivesomepeppy quick survivingundeceased

Opposites

dead

Word family

Derived forms alivelyalivenessborn-alivecatch-'em-alive-odead-alivedead-and-alivekeepalivenonaliveunalive

Etymology

From Middle English alive, alife, olive, olife, on live, on life, from Old English on līfe (“alive”, literally “in life" or "in (the) body”), from on (“on, in”) + līfe, dative singular of līf (“life”). In this sense, replaced Old English cwic (whence English quick). Equivalent to a- + life. Compare Dutch in leven (“alive”, literally “in life”), German am Leben (“alive”, literally “at life" or "at living”).

alive Middle English on līfe Old English

View etymology graph ->

External links

# alive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /əˈlaɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 541

## Meanings
1. Living; not dead.
2. Full of energy, activity, or excitement.
3. Still existing or in operation.
4. Fully aware of or sensitive to something.

## Examples
- As long as the plant is alive, he will keep watering it.
- The main street is quiet by day but comes alive at night.
- We worked hard to keep the tradition alive.
- The company is alive to the risks of expanding too quickly.

## Synonyms
- active
- animate
- animated
- extant
- kicking
- lively
- livesome
- living
- peppy
- quick
- surviving
- undeceased

## Antonyms
- dead

## Derived Forms
- alively
- aliveness
- born-alive
- catch-'em-alive-o
- dead-alive
- dead-and-alive
- keepalive
- nonalive
- unalive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: alive
- Root: on līfe

## Etymology
From Middle English alive, alife, olive, olife, on live, on life, from Old English on līfe (“alive”, literally “in life" or "in (the) body”), from on (“on, in”) + līfe, dative singular of līf (“life”). In this sense, replaced Old English cwic (whence English quick). Equivalent to a- + life. Compare Dutch in leven (“alive”, literally “in life”), German am Leben (“alive”, literally “at life" or "at living”).

## AI Etymology
Alive comes from Middle English alive, alife, olive, olife, on live, on life, from Old English on līfe (“alive”, literally “in life" or "in (the) body”), from on (“on, in”) plus līfe, dative singular of līf (“life”). In this sense, replaced Old English cwic (whence English quick). Equivalent to a- plus life. Compare Dutch in leven (“alive”, literally “in life”), German am Leben (“alive”, literally “at life" or "at living”).

## Topics
- House & Home

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alive

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