Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “survivor” come from?

Survivor comes from Old French survivre, from Latin supervīvere meaning to live beyond or outlast, formed from super meaning over and the Proto-Indo-European root gʷeih₃w- meaning to live.

survivor (English): One who survives, especially one who survives a...

Definitions

  1. One who survives, especially one who survives a...

Ancestry of “survivor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsurviveOf a person, to continue to live; to remain...
2Latinsupervīvō—
3Latinsuper-super-; over, above
4Latinsuper"accusative" above, on the top of, upon;...
5Latineks-uper—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanupérialternative reconstruction of *upér
7Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
8Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—

Words derived from “survivor”

  • survivorship
  • nonsurvivor
  • designated survivor
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →