Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “survive” come from?

Survive comes from Old French survivre, from Latin supervivo, combining Latin super with a root from Proto-Indo-European gʷeih₃w- meaning to live.

survive (English): Of a person, to continue to live; to remain...

Definitions

  1. Of a person, to continue to live; to remain...

Ancestry of “survive”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinsupervīvō—
2Latinsuper-super-; over, above
3Latinsuper"accusative" above, on the top of, upon;...
4Latineks-uper—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanupérialternative reconstruction of *upér
6Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
7Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—

Words derived from “survive”

  • survival
  • surviving
  • survivor
  • survivorship
  • survivability
  • survivable
  • survivalist
  • survivin
  • survivalism
  • prosurvival
  • unsurvivable
  • nonsurvival
  • surviver
  • nonsurvivable
  • cryosurvival
  • nonsurvivor
  • outsurvive
  • survivalistic
  • antisurvival
  • designated survivor
  • survival horror
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →