living

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled livin

US /ˈlɪvɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Freq #544

Meanings

1

adj
Having life; alive.

Every living thing needs water to survive.
2

adj
Still used or spoken today.

Spanish is a living language spoken by millions of people.
3

noun
The money you earn to support yourself.

He earns a living by teaching English.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having life; alive. extant

2 adj · still used or spoken today. surviving

More alive blasted damneddoggonelifelike lifey limned lively naturalistic stinking vital

Opposites

dead nonliving

Word family

Forms livings

Derived forms clean-livingcolivingeverlivingfree-livinghigh-livinglandlivinglivinglesslivinglylivingnesslivingrymislivingnon-living

Related forms alive life live

Appears in

Phrases (3)

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Idioms (1)

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within living memory
recent enough to be remembered personally by people who are still alive

Proverbs (4)

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Etymology

From Middle English livynge, libbyng, livinde, livand, livende, libbinde, libbende, from Old English lifiġende, lifiende, libbende, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjandī, from Proto-Germanic *libjandz (“living”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *libjaną (“to live”), equivalent to live + -ing. Cognate with West Frisian libbend (“living”), Dutch levend (“living”), German lebend (“living”), Swedish levande (“living”), Icelandic lifandi (“living”).

livynge Middle English lifiġende Old English *libbjan Proto-West Germanic *libjaną Proto-Germanic

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Describing Qualities

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# living

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪvɪŋ/
**Frequency rank:** 544

## Meanings
1. Having life; alive.
2. Still used or spoken today.
3. The money you earn to support yourself.

## Examples
- Every living thing needs water to survive.
- Spanish is a living language spoken by millions of people.
- He earns a living by teaching English.

## Synonyms
- alive
- blasted
- damned
- doggone
- extant
- lifelike
- lifey
- limned
- lively
- naturalistic
- stinking
- vital

## Antonyms
- dead
- nonliving

## Derived Forms
- clean-living
- coliving
- everliving
- free-living
- high-living
- landliving
- livingless
- livingly
- livingness
- livingry
- misliving
- non-living

## Related Forms
- alive
- life
- live

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: livynge
- Root: lifiġende
- Root: *libbjan
- Root: *libjaną

## Etymology
From Middle English livynge, libbyng, livinde, livand, livende, libbinde, libbende, from Old English lifiġende, lifiende, libbende, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjandī, from Proto-Germanic *libjandz (“living”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *libjaną (“to live”), equivalent to live + -ing. Cognate with West Frisian libbend (“living”), Dutch levend (“living”), German lebend (“living”), Swedish levande (“living”), Icelandic lifandi (“living”).

## AI Etymology
Living comes from Middle English livynge, libbyng, livinde, livand, livende, libbinde, libbende, from Old English lifiġende, lifiende, libbende, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjandī, from Proto-Germanic *libjandz (“living”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *libjaną (“to live”), equivalent to live + -ing. Cognate with West Frisian libbend (“living”), Dutch levend (“living”), German lebend (“living”), Swedish levande (“living”), Icelandic lifandi (“living”). In present-day English its meanings include having life; alive, still used or spoken today, and the money you earn to support yourself. The historical chain runs through livynge (Middle English), lifiġende (Old English), *libbjan (Proto-West Germanic), and *libjaną (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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living

Meanings

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (3)

Idioms (1)

Proverbs (4)

Etymology

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