English
survive
Survive comes from Anglo-Norman survivre, from Late Latin supervīvō ‘to outlive’, from super ‘over’ + vīvō ‘to live’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvō1‘to live’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsupervīvō1‘to outlive’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400survivre1‘to survive’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592survive1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English survive
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “And for that dowrie, Ile aſſure her of /…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvōWiktionary, English survive‘to live’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsupervīvōWiktionary, English survive‘to outlive’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400survivreWiktionary, English survive‘to survive’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592surviveWiktionary, English survive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “And for that dowrie, Ile aſſure her of /…”
A compound of super ‘over’ + vivere ‘to live’
Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘over’
Proto-Italic *super ‘above’
Latin super ‘over’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‘alive, living’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti ‘to live’
Proto-Italic *gʷīwō ‘to live, to be alive’
Latin vīvō ‘to live’
Every English word from Latin vīvō
Today it means
verb Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “survive”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin vīvō / survive