lyven
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English libban, lifian, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlivən/
- (mainly Northern) IPA(key): /ˈleːvən/
Verb
lyven (third-person singular simple present lyveth, present participle lyvende, lyvynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle lyved)
- (intransitive) To live (be alive or extant)
- (intransitive) To live (survive, continue living)
- c. 1368, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess, as recorded c. 1440–1450 in Bodleian Library MS. Fairfax 16, folio 130r:
- I Haue grete wonder, be this lyghte / How that I lyve, for day ne nyghte / I may nat slepe, wel nygh noght
- I greatly wonder by this light / How it is that I’m alive, for day and night / I can hardly sleep at all.
- c. 1368, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess, as recorded c. 1440–1450 in Bodleian Library MS. Fairfax 16, folio 130r:
- (intransitive, of inanimate objects and abstractions) To persist; to continue to exist.
- (intransitive) To reside or dwell; to live (somewhere).
- (intransitive) To live (in a certain way or condition)
- (intransitive, with various prepositions) To subsist or live on.
- (transitive) To live as (something), to exist as, to live the life of.
Conjugation
Conjugation of lyven (weak in -ed)
| infinitive | (to) lyven, lyve, libben, libbe | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | lyve | lyved | |
| 2nd-person singular | lyvest | lyvedest | |
| 3rd-person singular | lyveth | lyved | |
| subjunctive singular | lyve | ||
| imperative singular | — | ||
| plural1 | lyven, lyve | lyveden, lyvede | |
| imperative plural | lyveth, lyve | — | |
| participles | lyvynge, lyvende | lyved, ylyved | |
1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
- “liven, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
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