livingn.2
/ˈlɪvɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈlɪvɪŋ/ I. A means of support.† 3. † 4. plural. In the card game of Maw: (perhaps) the means to score, or continue play. Obsolete.
1. † b. concrete. Food, victuals. Also occasionally in plural in same sense. Obsolete.
a. A livelihood, a means of support or maintenance; an income sufficient to live on. Formerly also: †an endowment (obsolete). Now often in to earn (also get, make, etc.) a (also one's) living.See also: to work for a living at work v. Phrases 12; the world owes one a living at owe v. Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > livelihood
lifeOE
foodOE
livelihoodc1300
livingc1330
ploughc1390
purchasec1475
daily bread1526
being1570
governing1572
shift1572
supportation1576
thrift1579
livelihead1590
thrive1592
breadwinnera1614
subsistence1644
gain1655
bread and butter1691
through-bearing1705
bread1719
bread ticket1801
daily1817
lifehood1823
rice bowl1853
crust1916
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > [noun] > personal income or acquired wealth
yearningeOE
livelihooda1325
livingc1330
thrifta1350
fanging1493
thrive1592
stipend1605
censea1637
revenue1653
private income1725
establishment1726
take1937
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > earn one's living
liveeOE
get?1529
to earn (also get, make, etc.) a (also one's) living1632
to cut one's own grass1863
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 976 A cabel..Forto drawen vp al þing Þat nede was to her libbeing.
?a1425 Constit. Masonry (Royal 17 A.i) l. 17 in J. O. Halliwell Early Hist. Freemasonry in Eng. (1844) 12 And pray we hem..To oure chyldryn sum werke to make, That they myȝth gete here lyvynge therby.
1450 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1882) V. 425 (note) We have..gevin till oure loved Patrik Lyndesay five markes..till his living yerly.
1530–1 Act 22 Henry VIII c. 12 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 329 Yf any Man..be vagarant & can gyve none rekenyng howe he dothe lefully gett his lyvyng.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Biiv If thou haue any liveing So that thou nedest not to laboure Se thou apply the to learninge.
1576 G. Whetstone Ortchard of Repentance 20 in Rocke of Regard Their losse your gaine, their spending is your thrift, They broche your bagges till all their lyuing flie.
1611 Bible (King James) Mark xii. 44 She..did cast in all that she had, euen all her liuing . View more context for this quotation
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies (1660) iii. lxxxii. 134 Instead of giving Encrease to her revenues, make a living Upon her ruins.
1678 C. Pora Sovereign Balsom i. v. ii. 131 You understood that you were to labour hard for your living.
1724 London Gaz. No. 6306/3 Sometimes plays on the Violin for a living.
1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 150 No person will have need to beg or steal; because he may gain his living better by working.
1860 R. W. Emerson Wealth in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 75 Society is barbarous, until every industrious man can get his living without dishonest customs.
1883 Sir J. Bacon in Law Times Rep. 1 Mar. (1884) 9/2 The son..earns his living as a licensed victualler.
1927 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) 29 132/3 ‘What's your racket?’ meaning ‘What do you do for a living?’
1958 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 93 I make my living writing stories about the country-club set.
2006 One in Seven Apr. 27/2 With this order we have to be responsible for our own income, so I earn a living as a full-time college lecturer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > [noun]
meateOE
eatOE
foodOE
fodderOE
dietc1230
gista1290
victual1303
victualsa1375
preya1382
feedinga1398
pasturea1398
viancea1400
viandsc1400
livingc1405
meatingc1425
vitalyc1440
vianda1450
cates1461
vivers1536
viandry1542
viander1543
gut-matter1549
peck1567
belly-cheer1579
appast1580
manchet1583
chat1584
belly-metal1590
repasture1598
cibaries1599
belly-timber1607
belly-cheat1608
peckage1610
victuallage1622
keeping1644
vivresa1650
crib1652
prog1655
grub1659
beef1661
fooding1663
teething1673
eatablea1687
sunket1686
yam1788
chow-chow1795
keep1801
feed1818
grubbing1819
patter1824
ninyam1826
nyam1828
grubbery1831
tack1834
kai1845
mungaree1846
scoff1846
foodstuff1847
chuck1850
muckamuck1852
tuck1857
tucker1858
hash1865
nosh1873
jock1879
cake flour1881
chow1886
nosebag1888
stodge1890
food aid1900
tackle1900
munga1907
scarf1932
grubber1959
the world > food and drink > food > [noun] > sustenance or nourishment
foodOE
fosterc1000
fodnethOE
flittinga1225
livenotha1225
nourishingc1300
sustenancec1300
livelihoodc1325
nurture1340
fosteringc1386
livingc1405
nouriturea1425
nutriment?a1425
nutrition?a1425
lifehood1440
reliefa1450
nourishmentc1450
nurshingc1450
sustentationc1450
nutrimentc1485
alimenta1500
sustainmenta1500
bielda1522
creature1540
suck1584
mantiniment1588
fosterment1593
the three M's1938
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 227 She wolde brynge Wortes or othere herbes..The whiche she shredde and seeth for his lyuynge.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlv. l. 620 A brid that browhte me my lyveng.
c1480 (a1400) St. Blaise 39 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 362 Quhare vthyre lyfynge had he nocht bot as þe foulis til hym brocht.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccii. [cxcviii.] 623 The see was closed fro them on all partes, wherby their lyuenges [Fr. viures] and marchaundises myght nat entre into their countreys.
1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job (new ed.) xc. 462/2 A mannes prouision, liuing, sustenance, foode, or nourishment.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 666 There is scarce any food whereof they do not eate, as also no place wherein they picke not out some liuing.
1781 J. Byng Diary 28 June in C. B. Andrews Torrington Diaries (1934) I. 40 The living at The Wells is 14 shillings, and the Red Rooms from 5s. to 7s. 6d. pr. week: dinner is serv'd at two, and supper at 9 o'clock.
1796 Gentleman's Mag. July 547 In Switzerland the peasants..are driven to such distress that their whole living consists chiefly of potatoes and milk.
1818 J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. U.S. 125 Our living consisted almost invariably of coffee, hot short cakes, called biscuits, corn-bread, cucumbers, honey, eggs, bacon, and chicken.
1863 F. A. Kemble Jrnl. Resid. Georgian Plantation 20 Our living consists very mainly of wild ducks.
1902 G. W. Owens Farm Milk Cow (Tuskegee Normal & Industr. Inst., Alabama, Farmers' Leaflet No. 10) The average farmer's daily living consists of salt pork (when he can get it), corn bread and molasses.
2. Christian Church. A position as a vicar, rector, or other church official, conferring property or income or both; a benefice. More fully ecclesiastical (also spiritual) living. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > benefice > [noun]
benefice1340
livingc1426
benefit1554
church living1592
endowment1597
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 36 A mon to haue iiij benefyse anoder no lyuyng; Þis is not Godys wyle.
1465 in J. B. Sheppard Let. Bks. Monastery Christ Church Canterbury (1889) 241 (MED) Please hit therfor your moste gracious Lordship to provyde for me of sufficient lyvyng to the chirch of Bersted.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 3rd Serm. sig. I.iii They scratched and scraped all the lyuynges of the churche, and vnder a couloure of relygyon turned it to theyr owne proper gayne and lucre.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 4/1 For the holding and reteinyng of all other spiritual lyuyngs whatsoeuer.
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. v. i. 110 When a man is to be preferred to an ecclesiastical living.
1650 T. Hubbert Pilula 28 They have two or three Livings apiece.
1680 Countess of Manchester in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 217 He haveing a great many very good liveings in his gifft.
1703 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. 1 Pet. v. 3 To take a Living only to get a Living, is an horrid Impiety.
1707 R. Nelson Compan. Festivals & Fasts (ed. 4) ii. x. 600 When any Person is presented..to any..Living Ecclesiastical.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 104 My father..was possessed of a small living in the church.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice I. xvi. 181 The late Mr. Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best living in his gift. View more context for this quotation
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 532 At the time of the Restoration..he had held a living in Kent.
1884 J. Bright in Times 5 Aug. 10/4 The 500 peers are possessors of not less..than 4000 livings of the Church of England.
1955 C. S. Lewis Surprised by Joy xiii. 191 I had recently come to know an old, dirty, gabbling, tragic, Irish parson who had long since lost his faith but retained his living.
2001 Oxoniensia 65 448 In 1782 he nominated his son-in-law to the living of Aston-sub-Edge.
a.
(a) Property in general, esp. landed estate, landed property; (plural) estates, possessions. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun]
goodeOE
auchtOE
havingc1350
facultya1382
substancea1382
propertya1393
haviourc1400
suffisantee1436
aversc1440
propriety1442
livinga1450
goodess1523
gear1535
prog1727
the mind > possession > possessor > [noun] > owner > man of property
livelihood mana1450
livinga1450
man of livinga1556
man of property1765
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > land yielding income
rent?a1160
livelihood1438
livinga1450
stock1552
livelihead1590
investment property1832
a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 2280 I haue lost my living, A hundreth pound it was worth wele.
1465 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1884) VII. 321 (note) Cuthbert Colevile..has left his leving and gudis in the said realme.
1566 R. Ascham Let. to Leicester 14 Apr. in T. D. Whitaker Hist. Richmondshire (1823) I. 286 My lease..the whole and only liveing that I have to leave to my wife and children.
1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha i. vi. 35 So is there also care taken, that none be nowe placed in ye Commission, whose liuings be not increased according to the same proportion.
1597 F. Bacon Of Coulers Good & Euill f. 22v, in Ess. Men whose liuing lieth together in one Shire.
a1613 G. Owen Descr. Penbrokshire (1892) ii. 21 Maintaineinge himselfe upon his owne lyveinges verye noblye.
c1672 Roxburghe Ballads (1886) VI. 261 My Lands and Livings are but small, For to maintain my Love withal.
1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War ii. 88 Not far from Penobscot, where the main body of our Enemies living was.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. xxi. 32 Thy kinsman's lands and livings fair.
(b) man of living n. Obsolete = man of property n. at man n.1 Phrases 1r.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessor > [noun] > owner > man of property
livelihood mana1450
livinga1450
man of livinga1556
man of property1765
a1556 R. Chancellor in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1598) I. 240 Also, if any gentleman or man of liuing do die without issue male, immediately after his death the Duke entreth his land.
1588 A. Marten Exhort. Faithfull Subiects sig. D2 There be many more great houses alredy, then there be men of liuing able to vphold.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia ii. xi. 197 Hee presented unto him all the men of living, and quality in the Province.
b. A holding of land; a tenement. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > tenure of property > a legal holding > [noun]
hold1303
tenementsa1325
tenementc1330
occupying1431
tenure1439
landholdinga1475
living1581
holding1640
occupation1792
1581 Compendious Exam. Certayne Ordinary Complaints i. f. 4v Yee take Fermes also and pastures to your hands, (which was wont to bee poore mens lyuings such as I am).
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. E3 I would not haue them [sc. parkes] to be made of the poore mens liuings.
1617 in Quarter Sessions Rec. (N. Riding Rec. Soc.) (1884) II. 159 J. D. presented for refusing to pay his sessment..of that living on which he now dwelleth.
a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. i. 139 Thys Lord with hys lady dyd fyrst sell to many of the Tenants heere the inheritance of theyre lyvinges.
1695 in N. W. Alcock People at Home (1993) v. 85 Eight acres of rye at the Home Liveing.
1719 State Proc. Corporation of Governours Bounty of Queen Anne xi. 87 If the Living has been let, the Commissioners ought to ask, whether besides the Rent they did not give some Fine.
1790 W. Marshall Agric. Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 439 The common field townships were divided into a certain number of ‘livings’.
1820 W. Scott tr. Noble Moringer in Edinb. Ann. Reg. 1816 9 ii. p. ccccxcvi There's many a valiant gentleman of me holds living fair.
1867 Notes & Queries 9 Feb. 126/1 Each holder of a 'living' had the right to let his cattle and pigs run 'at shack' over the whole of the tenantry fields after harvest.
ΚΠ
c1600 Groome-porters Lawes at Mawe (single sheet) If you turne vp the Ace of Hartes, and thereby make either partie aboue xxvi. the contrary part must haue Liuings, but if the contrary parte bee xxv. by meanes whereof Liuings sets them out, then is he who turned vp the Ace of Hartes to make for the Set.
II. The action of live v.1
5. † b. Duration of life; one's lifetime. Obsolete.Frequently in in one's living [after Old French, Middle French, French en mon vivant] . Quot. 1340 shows use of the present participle in a literal translation of the same French construction (the present participle is formally distinct from the verbal noun in Ayenbite; cf. steruinge). Cf. living adj., living n.1
a. The fact of being alive; continuance in life; the experience of proceeding through life; the faculty, function, or course of life. Also: the experience or fact of dwelling in a specified place. Later also in emphatic sense: the experience of living life to the full.See also cost of living n. at cost n.3 Phrases 1a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > [noun]
lifeOE
livingc1350
existence1583
survival1598
survivancea1623
survivership1638
supervivency1659
vivaciousnessa1661
vivacity1663
survivorship1697
surviving1818
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > [noun] > joy of living
living1809
Lebenslust1857
will to live1871
joie de vivre1889
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) lxii. 4 Þy mercy is better vp lybbeinges [L. melior est misericordia tua super vitas].
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 1934 (MED) So that hir deth and his livinge Sche ches with al hire hole entente.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 4130 Ful synful sal be his bygynnyng, And wonderful sal be his lyvyng. And his endying sal be sodayn.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 152 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 300 Sume of lyfinge mad na forse.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (BL Add. 9066) (1879) 363 [For] the fyrste woman he gafe to the soule weyng [perhaps read beyng] and leuyng with trees; for the second he gafe felyng with bestes; for the thrid and the fourte he gaffe vndirstondyng with aungelles.
a1500 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Royal) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 27 Wysely and discretely thei departed hir levynge [c1390 Vernon good] in two.
1521 R. Gresham Let. 11 Jan. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 236 God..send your Grace goode helthe and longe leyffven.
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 73 This long liuing is the true cause of their propagation.
1631 E. Jorden Disc. Nat. Bathes (1669) ii. 14 There is no living for any creature, where there is no water.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 95 There would be no living for me in a Cave.
1771 W. Dodd Serm. to Young Men I. v. 135 Virtue contains the whole art of right and happy living.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. vii. vii. 115 He was..so jealous, that there was no living for vexation at his unfounded surmises.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) ii. 20 As if living in the country would save them from attending to any of the laws of health.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Chastelard i. ii. 30 Meseems all France Smells sweet with living.
1897 Daily News 15 Nov. 5/4 This [campaigning] is ‘living’, anyhow, in a sense in which garrison life is not.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 24/3 The skillful use of three color forces, blue, yellow and red, in home decoration, can enfold daily living in the mantle of harmony.
1936 E. Goudge City of Bells v. 124 At rock bottom living is merely a giving of personality in one form or another.
1989 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (BBC TV camera script) (O.E.D. Archive) Ser. F. Episode 2. 18 Cop a load of this, bruv. This is what you call living.
2006 Wanderlust Mar. 9/2 I am, by preference, a desert-dweller. All the requisites for living are there if you take the time to look.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > course or span of life
life-dayOE
year-daysOE
timeOE
dayOE
lifeOE
life's timeOE
livelihoodOE
yearOE
lifetimea1300
life-whilea1300
for (also to) term of (a person's) lifea1325
coursec1384
livingc1390
voyage1390
agea1398
life's dayc1425
thread1447
racea1450
living daysc1450
natural life1461
lifeness1534
twist1568
leasec1595
span1599
clew1615
marcha1625
peregrination1653
clue1684
stamen1701
life term1739
innings1772
lifelong1814
pass-through1876
inning1885
natural1891
life cycle1915
puff1967
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 73 Voryet þi body ones a day guo in-to helle ine þine libbinde [Fr. en ton vivant; c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues while þou lyuest] þet þou ne guo ine þine steruinge.]
c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 128 (MED) And ȝe þat wiþ my blood I bouȝt, Þat loued me in ȝoure lyuynge, Ȝe schul haue þat ȝe haue souȝt.
a1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Tanner 346) (1878) l. 188 She ne graunted him in her lyuynge No grace.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail liii. l. 263 I schal preyen be my levynge [Fr. en mon vivant], that I..In that same Abbeye I-beryed to be.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) l. 488 That neuer, dais of your leuing..ye shall not enquere of me the saturday.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cviv Than war I woundir vnwis To purchese proffit for pris Quhare schame ay euer lyis All my leuing.
1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. L She..did thence remoue, To spend her liuing in eternall loue.
1654 T. Fuller Comment on Ruth 30 in 2 Serm. Were the dayes of our suffering, apportioned to the dayes of our living, no flesh would be saved.
6. The action of passing or leading one's life in a particular manner, as in accordance with specific moral, aesthetic, or philosophical precepts or convictions, or with regard to food and physical conditions; lifestyle, conduct.In quot. ?c1450 probably: †a particular (monastic) rule of life (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [noun]
wonningc960
bewistc1200
livingc1350
lodging1362
habitationc1374
indwellinga1382
dwellingc1384
inhabitinga1400
bidingc1400
inhabitationc1400
residencec1405
mansiona1425
winningc1425
demur1444
abodec1450
resianty1467
demurrance1509
resiance1566
place-being1567
residency1579
resiancy1580
commorancy1586
residing1587
inhabitance1588
abodement1592
commorance1594
habit1603
commoration1623
inwoning1647
inhabitancy1681
habitancy1792
domicile1835
occupying1849
abidal1850
tenancy1856
the world > action or operation > behaviour > way of life > [noun]
lifeeOE
lifewayOE
livelihoodOE
livingc1350
dietc1460
tradec1485
use1488
daily life1516
way of living1516
governmenta1616
way of lifea1616
tread1628
mode1758
the world > action or operation > behaviour > way of life > [noun] > action of conducting life in specific way
livingc1350
convoy?a1513
convey1567
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun] > monastic rule
regheleOE
rulea1225
perfection1340
livingc1350
rubric1809
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 170 (MED) Antecristes prophetes shullen..corrumpen goddes lawȝe & tournen it after her libbyng [v.r. lyfyng].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 11 (MED) Donston..made hym besy..to make þe kynges levynge [L. mores regis] to be a myrrour and ensample to alle his sugettes.
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 28943 Þam þat has bene Haueand, hend, of lifing clene.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 5 Þe ije principal afore spoken necessarie to oure good living..is loue to god.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 3690 Demys ȝow na better in ȝour doyng Þan othir of þe same leuyng.
1485–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1485 1st Roll §67. m. 45 Preestis..openly noised of incontunent lyvyng in their bodies.
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xxii. sig. h.iiiv He forsoke this worlde, and chaunged his lyuynge.
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. bij Dissolute lyuynge, licentious talke, and such other vicious behauoures.
?1577 J. Northbrooke Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Treat. Dicing To Rdr. sig. a.ijv We..haue almost minde at no time to repent and amend our liuings.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. i. 63 Whereas all those in Egypt, though painfull in their livings, were healthfull in their lives.
1689 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Death iii. §4. 173 There is a living apace, as some call it, not to lengthen but to shorten life.
1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 78 Our Living now is very hard.
1777 W. Dalrymple Trav. Spain & Portugal xvi. 174 They are temperate, or rather abstemious in their living to a great degree.
1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 139 Plain living and high thinking are no more.
1857 E. E. Stuart Let. 10 Feb. in R. Stuart et al. Stuart Lett. (1961) II. 786 My living is of the most economical cast, except Francis' wages, but he is everything to me.
1867 H. Spencer First Princ. (ed. 2) ii. i. §36. 129 Under Socrates..Philosophy became little else than the doctrine of right living.
1948 E. Waugh Loved One 2 His was a sensitive, intelligent face, blurred somewhat by soft living and long boredom.
1988 New Orleans Rev. 15 iv. 66/1 Burroughs equates sex and death just as Pope equates death and fine living.
2013 J. Lanier Who owns Future? xxviii. 303 You ought to attend a class on green living and food preparation.
7. The action or process of earning a livelihood; a method of doing this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > as dependent on sustenance > means of life
bylivec1000
sustenancec1300
sustaining1395
sap1526
livinga1538
maintenance1540
life-breath1597
support1599
subsistence1606
through-bearing1705
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 101 To..fynd to them some honest lyvyngs.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 55. ¶1 Most of the Trades, Professions, and Ways of Living among Mankind.
1836 S. Wicks Short Def. 51 No persons in British society feel more difficulty of living, and maintaining their family, than those Clergymen do who are not provided with resources.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 286 That occasional entire dependence upon personal resources which has been roughly translated as ‘living by his wits’.
1901 H. Black Culture & Restraint ii. 35 Men are so concerned about living that they lose sight of life.
1991 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Dec. 42/4 Yalies and would-be Yalies..would naturally need a Holy War to justify living off the government teat.
Compounds
C1. With adverbs.
living in n. the practice of residing on an employer's premises; often attributive (usually hyphenated), as living-in system, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > [noun] > employer's premises or not
living out1874
living in1892
1892 Manch. Guardian 19 Mar. 7/5 The points discussed will include.., if time allows, the merits and demerits of the ‘living in’ system.
1899 Daily News 22 June 9/5 The iniquities of the living-in system.
1994 J. H. Kaplan & S. Stowell Theatre & Fashion (1995) iv. 126 Miss Yates's pregnancy, it seems, is more a result of her 'living out' than 'living in'. Sent by Roberts and Huxtable to the Madras House for professional training, she has succumbed.
living out n. (a) the practice by domestic staff of working and residing in their employer's house (rare); (b) the practice of living away from work premises where one normally might also be expected to reside; often attributive (usually hyphenated), as living-out system, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > [noun] > employer's premises or not
living out1874
living in1892
1874 Repository Feb. 89/1 Most girls would object to the place of a servant in a family, because there is an odium attached to living out.
1898 Charity Organisation Rev. July 44 The ‘living-out’ system, if more independent, can also be ideally uncomfortable.
1901 Daily Chron. 15 May 2/7 Living out..would take a great deal of responsibility from the shoulders of employers.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 14 The misunderstanding has arisen..over the living-out system on which the Commandos work. The men are neither billeted nor fed by the Army.
2011 E. Prentis Nurse in Action iii. 47 Living out was one of the rights we earned when we passed our Finals. It was not a right that the Matron wholeheartedly approved of.
C2. General attributive.
a. In sense 5, as living arrangements, living conditions, etc.
ΚΠ
1861 Reasoner 14 Apr. 221/1 That which..may be called the joint-stock system of living arrangements..is the eventual necessity of the greater part of the human race.
1875 Daily News (London) 6 Feb. 2/5 He rejoiced that the living conditions of the people of our great towns were to be made the subject of early and earnest consideration.
1920 N.Y. Times 5 Dec. 34/4 The entire drama depends on creating the impression..that the protagonists of the action..are the victims of intolerable living circumstances, and not of the dramatist's lively and lurid imagination.
1989 D. P. Moxley Pract. Case Managem. ii. 27 The case manager works with the client in identifying those needs which are most salient to the living situation of the person.
2005 Times (Nexis) 18 June (Features section) 72 I should not get into an argument with them about their perceived disapproval of your living arrangements.
b. With the sense ‘relating to or necessary for the day-to-day cost of living’.
living allowance n.
ΚΠ
1825 New Times 28 Mar. 3/5 He was promised a fair living allowance for his work.
1937 H. S. Bennett Life on Eng. Manor iv. 88 The frequency with which some such allowance occurs suggests that it was a normal living allowance—but whether for a single man or for a family is more difficult to say.
1991 C. James Brrm! Brrm! (1992) iii. 35 As a recruit for the bureaucracy he was being given his London pay and living allowance in yen.
living costs n.
ΚΠ
1895 Publ. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 4 177 Their [sc. single men's] yearly income is practically the same as that of married men, but their living costs are much less.
1988 L. E. Long Migration & Resid. Mobility in U.S. iv. 135 Selective nonmigration can mean more young persons looking for employment close to home because their parents can subsidize living costs.
living expenses n.
ΚΠ
1821 Economist 1 Dec. 299 If the society should employ one of the children of a member having five children, the living expenses of that member would be reduced..in proportion.
1928 Pop. Mechanics Dec. 81 We offer an opportunity to earn living expenses while attending the School of Engineering.
2015 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 10 June (Money section) 4 If you are still employed but fearful of redundancy, start building an emergency fund of three to eight months' worth of living expenses.
c. With the sense 'that is used for daily habitation'.
living house n.
ΚΠ
1770 A. Young Six Months Tour N. Eng. II. viii. 107 An excellent living house, in which the agreeable part of convenience is consulted, without destroying the scale of a large family.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 624 There are near to the living-house large, well-built houses with the proper machinery for drying the cocoa.
2009 Amer. Antiq. 74 36/2 During reuse people begin to store their pots outside, where they are placed adjacent to the kitchen or living house.
living place n.
ΚΠ
1780 tr. P. Sonnerat Acct. Voy. Spice-Islands 115 The Spot, where wheat grows naturally, (which is the proper food of man): was also the natural birth & living-place of man.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 124 The cloister was really the living-place of the monks.
2012 Washington Post (Nexis) 26 Oct. c3 We continued to live together until July, then both moved to separate living places.
living quarters n.
ΚΠ
1877 Times 28 Mar. 14/5 Good shop, fine cellars, and comfortable living quarters.
1978 Chicago June 157/2 All the sleep-away camps have separate living quarters for boys and girls.
2010 N. Kent Apathy for Devil 34 Waiting for the smacked-back guitarist to descend from his living quarters and grace them with his presence.
C3. Objective, with agent nouns and participles.
a. (In sense 1.)
ΚΠ
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood Satyre ii. sig. D2 A Gentleman perhaps may chaunce to meete His Liuing-griper face to face in streete.
1614 R. Tailor Hogge hath lost Pearle iii. E 2 Is thy liuing-giuer within, sir? Ser. You meane my master, sir?
b. (In sense 2.)
ΚΠ
1632 P. Hausted Rivall Friends v. ix. sig. N2 Oh, that's for old living brokers, I'me a young one.
1765 J. Clubbe Misc. Tracts (1770) II. 44 Now is it not justly to [be] apprehended, that a certain order of men..may come over hither, and commence living-brokers?
1898 Daily News 31 May 6/6 The Premier had much dislike for living-seeking parsons.
C4.
living area n. (a) Australian an area of land on which a person or family can live; spec. one containing enough farming land to support its inhabitants in reasonable comfort; (b) = living space n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > living room
living room1787
homeroom1841
sala1851
living space1882
living area1898
1898 Coolgardie (W. Austral.) Miner 26 Apr. 4/4 The matter of living areas is one that has been too long neglected.
1913 Cornell Reading-courses 1 May 1485 In the living area a feeling of spaciousness is obtained by the use of wide doorways and groups of windows through which vistas are seen indoors and out.
1919 C. G. Wade Austral. 82 No individual shall hold in all a larger amount of land than constitutes a ‘living area’.
1969 K. Giles Death cracks Bottle vii. 74 The inglenook which the architect had fashioned in the living area.
1991 Vegetatio 91 20/1 A vital factor in semi-arid land use planning is determination of the elusive ‘living area’.
2006 Family Circle Nov. 111/3 The open-plan living area, patios and balconies make it a great family space.
living days n. the days of one's life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > course or span of life
life-dayOE
year-daysOE
timeOE
dayOE
lifeOE
life's timeOE
livelihoodOE
yearOE
lifetimea1300
life-whilea1300
for (also to) term of (a person's) lifea1325
coursec1384
livingc1390
voyage1390
agea1398
life's dayc1425
thread1447
racea1450
living daysc1450
natural life1461
lifeness1534
twist1568
leasec1595
span1599
clew1615
marcha1625
peregrination1653
clue1684
stamen1701
life term1739
innings1772
lifelong1814
pass-through1876
inning1885
natural1891
life cycle1915
puff1967
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) v. l. 237 Oure leuynge dayes..arn at an ende.
1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) v. 26 Whose goodly name..Was called Carmentis in her lyuynge dayes.
1767 Ess. Relig. & Morality ii. 12 Fear the Lord then all thy living days.
1912 Printers' Ink 21 Nov. 50/2 A man pointed out an underwear ad to me. 'Did you ever see anything so asinine in all your living days?' he snorted.
2001 A. Wheatle East of Acre Lane 193 ‘Bloodfire!’ heavy-breathed Floyd. Fuck my living days! De dog's ah fockin' man-eater. I t'ought my days were over an' out, dread.
living-dining room n. a room that combines the function of a living room and a dining room.
ΚΠ
1915 E. Wallick Small House for Moderate Income xiii. 74 This proffers a good argument for the living-dining room in small houses.
1945 G. Nelson & H. N. Wright Tomorrow's House iv. 41/1 The living-dining-room was a makeshift..but nevertheless an expedient to save space and money.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 45 (advt.) Living-dining room with open fireplace.
2000 R. Hosking At Japanese Table v. 48 The kitchen is just a corner of the living-dining room.
living floor n. Archaeology a well-defined single horizon (horizon n. 5c) containing contemporary (esp. prehistoric) material of such character as to suggest domestic occupation.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > other types of dwelling > [noun] > prehistoric dwellings > site of
living floor1916
1916 Freeport (Illinois) Jrnl.-Standard 13 Oct. 10/2 We found ourselves..inside the temple enclosure and on the living floor of the Meroitic period (about 100 B. C.).
1946 Nature 2 Nov. 637/2 In 1943, further evidence was obtained pointing to the conclusion that on the site, now known as Glorgesailie site 10, there was a series of actual living floors or camp sites of Acheulean men.
2006 Nature 16 Nov. 285/1 An extraordinarily well-preserved living floor, radiocarbon dated at 26,580 ± 160 years before present..was found.
living price n. a price that enables the seller to make a living from his sale; cf. living wage n.
ΚΠ
1688 G. Parker & J. Stalker Treat. Japaning xxvi. 80 By these means, they not allowing the Artist a Living price, he cannot spend both his oyl and labour, nor stretch his performances to the utmost extent of his skill.
1748 G. G. Beekman Let. 1 Nov. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 66 Should Order more but our City is full of goods and No Selling of them at a living Price.
1834 Congress. Globe 3 May 362/2 Mr. Forsyth said that..70 to 76 cents was a very living price for fish oil.
1910 Sat. Evening Post 10 Sept. 76/2 Tricky cut-price operators..selling below living prices.
2007 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 611 195 Desperate farmers who are not paid a living price for their beans.
living standard n. [compare standard n. 20a] the level of consumption in terms of food, accommodation, clothing, services, etc., estimated for a person, group, or nation. Frequently in plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > [noun] > standard of living
living standard1896
society > trade and finance > trading conditions > [noun] > supply and demand or market > demand > consumption > levels or standards of
living standard1896
1896 Atlantic Monthly Apr. 463/1 It is not difficult to imagine conditions at home which would rapidly force down the living-standard.
1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound vi. 121 The aim of the Government was to raise living-standards to those of the Europeans.
2013 Guardian 29 July 21/1 Wages are being squeezed and living standards are falling.
living wage n. a wage on which it is possible to meet basic needs.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > according to amount
pittance1611
half-pay1664
long shilling1764
overpay1765
living wage1817
subsistence wage1831
existence wage1893
social wage1925
1817 Times 14 Jan. I know not how sufficiently to admire your repeated recommendations to employ the poor..; this is all they wish for, or require, at bare living wages, during these distressing times.
1888 E. Bellamy Looking Backward xxviii. 450 The wonder to me is, not that industries conducted as these are do not pay you living wages, but that they are able to pay you any wages at all.
1967 Listener 23 Feb. 248/1 Some of them already have to work up to fifty-six hours a week to make up their weekly pay to a living wage of £20.
2014 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Nov. The living wage outside London is now £7.85.
living wagon n. a wagon used as an informal domestic space by travelling showmen, gypsies, etc.; = wagon n. 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > other vehicles according to specific use > [noun] > vehicle used as living accommodation
van1829
house wagon1833
living wagon1851
wagon1851
motor-van1898
motor caravan1909
van1922
trailer caravan1930
trailer1931
caravanette1934
mobile home1934
travel trailer1936
trailer home1940
static caravan1947
recreational vehicle1949
van1952
trailer house1954
caravette1958
camper1960
pickup camper1960
motor home1961
caravan1962
cab-over1964
RV1967
manufactured home1976
micro-mini1989
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 329/1 He termed it, as all showmen do—the living wagon.
1946 S. Cloete Afr. Portraits 34 Others were tented living wagons, the rear half-filled by a big kartel or bed that ran from rail to rail within it.
2015 Bognor Regis Observer (Nexis) 7 Aug. The fair is part living history, with vintage trucks and traditional showman's living wagons all part of the spectacle.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1878 L. Wingfield Lady Grizel I. viii. 136 They were enjoined to roam..with a livingless parson as a mentor.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
livingadj.n.1
/ˈlɪvɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈlɪvɪŋ/ A. adj.
I. In predicative use, or as postmodifier.† 2. living his father (also his mother, etc.) : ‘in the lifetime of his father (his mother, etc.)’, 'while his father (his mother, etc.) was alive'. Obsolete.
1. Alive, not dead. Formerly also: †when alive (obsolete); †dwelling, residing (obsolete). Now frequently in no man living and variants.In quot. OE2 in a prepositional phrase with by in the sense ‘in the lifetime of’; cf. sense A. 2.In Middle English often used with adverbial phrases such as in erthe, in this world, etc., which serve a chiefly emphatic function.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > opposed to dead
in the land of the livingc825
livingeOE
lifeeOE
quickeOE
aliveOE
livishc1175
alivesc1300
in lifea1325
with lifea1325
of life1392
breathinga1398
undeada1400
upon lifea1413
live1531
lifesome1582
undeceased1589
vivec1590
breathful1593
vivificent1598
on the hoof1818
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) liv. 13 (16) Veniat mors super illos et descendant in infernum uiuentes : cyme deað ofer hie & astigen hie in helle lifgende.
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Josh. (Claud.) x. 38 He gecyrde to Dabira ðære byrig..& ne let ðær to lafe nan ðing libbende.
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. viii. 42 Constantinus, se be Diocletiane lyfgendum [L. uiuente Diocletiano] Gallia rice & Ispania heold & rehte.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 4 (MED) Wes i þe ilke time liuiende i londe þa þet eadie meiden.
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 582 In þan ylond weren men libbende [c1275 Calig. folc woniende].
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 767 (MED) Y ȝylde me her to Charlis kyng, þe beste knyȝt y-core Þat is owar now lyuyng.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4847 Elleuen breþer es we liuand.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 235 Ye be th[e] womman in þis world lyuynge..That I best loue.
c1440 (a1349) R. Rolle in Eng. Writings (1931) 55 (MED) Þay moghte wele forgaa þe lufe of all creaturs lyfande in erthe.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 550 Ye wiffis had him till his cuntre Quhar wes na man leiffand bot he.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xx. 241 Ye shall se me well certan, And lyfand shall I be.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Esdras xii. 33 He shal sett them lyuynge before the iudgment.
1572 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxviii. 60 Thou hes left leifand bot few in that land.
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 532 The most ignorant proud woman liuing, caring for, nor respecting any but her selfe and hers.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Brief View Leviathan (1676) 320 Lamented by all men living who pretended to Virtue.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 190 Annals are Masses said in the Romish Church..either for the Soul of a Person deceas'd, or for the Benefit of a Person living.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xlix. 183 As long as there is one man living, who thinks you worthy of his confidence.
1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 140 Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour; England hath need of thee.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 357 Where a testator..gives to his four children then living.
1890 Lancet 1 Mar. 480/2 The pulp [of a tooth] was living.
1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 40/1 Sim jumped before the collision and is still living. Casey died at the throttle.
1975 J. B. Keane Lett. of Matchmaker in Celebrated Lett. (1996) 248 I wanted him to go to a doctor to see after his apparatus but he told me he'd let no man living look at it.
1990 ‘A. Cross’ Players come Again (1992) vi. 139 Emile must be eighty-three if he's a day, supposing he is living.
1996 P. Bakker & A. P. Grant in S. A. Wurm et al. Atlas Langs. Intercult. Communication I. 1141/1 There was only one speaker of Eyak still living in 1994.
2012 Irish Daily Mail (Nexis) 16 Aug. 54 There's not a man living that's fought six fighters of that calibre.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1723 He tok upon him alle thing..In contempt of the Regalie, Livende his fader.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) iii. f. xxxviii.v He had no ryght in the lande lyuynge his fader, but the ryght dyscended unto hym by dyscent after the release made by the deth of his father.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 267 Living his mother Alexandra, he had been with the High Priesthood nine yeares.
1681 W. Lawrence Right of Primogeniture i. 3 If the Eldest dyed living his Father, the Nephew should succeed instead of his Son who dyed.
a1691 P. Ventris Rep. (1696) i. 381 If the Husband dye, living his Wife, before the Estate Tail is granted to them, the Feoffee ought to make the Estate as near the Condition, and as near the intent of the Condition as may be.
1750 Case T. Drummond 4 John Drummond..was attainted on the 18th of April, living his Brother; and therefore his Brother died without Heir.
1788 J. J. Powell Ess. Learning of Devises 486 The son, living his father.
1828 Law Jrnl. 6 155/2 If the said James Eyre shall depart this life without leaving any such issue as aforesaid, living his brother the said Charles Eyre.
1838 F. Hilliard Abridgm. Amer. Law Real Prop. I. xli. 365 If she should die, living her husband, then to him the income, &c. of a moiety for life.
II. In attributive use.
3. That lives or has life.
a. Of God: that lives or exists, that is real (esp. as contrasted with heathen gods and idols).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > activities of God > [adjective] > that bestows life > eternal
livingeOE
livelyOE
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxix. 368 Mænige þara broðra of Lindesfarena ea efncomon to him..& hine ðurh ðone lifigendon Dryhten [L. per Dominum] halsedon & bædon.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) iv. 215 Ðu eart Crist þæs lifiendan Godes sunu.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 4 (MED) Hu ha schulen luuien þe liuiende lauerd.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13582 And ȝif hit ilimpeð, swa wule þe liuiende Godd, þat heo ouer-cumen beon.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 53 (MED) And I seiȝ anoþere Aungel vnto þe Estward, & he had þe merk of god lyueande [v.r. lyfyng].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Dan. xiv. 4 Y wirshipe not ydolis..bot lyuyng God [a1425 L.V. God lyuynge; L. viventem Deum].
a1450 (a1400) Athelston (1951) l. 437 (MED) He swoor be God leuande.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xli. 2 My soule is a thurste for God, yee euen for the lyuynge God [Ger. dem lebendigen Gott; Hebrew lə-’êl ḥāy].
1567 R. Sempill Deeclaratioun Lordis Iust Quarrell (single sheet) The Leuing Lord bring thame to this gude end.
1626 L. Owen Running Reg. 10 Dare you (Artolaters) adore a peece of Bread, for the liuing God?
1660 S. Fisher Rusticus ad Academicos iv. 173 Seek for the living Lord among the dead.
1732 G. Berkeley Serm. to Soc. Propagation Gospel in Wks. (1871) III. 240 The church of the living God.
1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. vii. 177 In witness of this our league, we invoke the holy name of the living God.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House liv. 524 By the living Lord it flashed upon me..that she had done it!
1885 J. L. Davies Social Questions xvi. 372 Those who recognise light and guidance and promise as coming to men from the living God.
1943 M. Samuel tr. S. Asch Apostle iii. xvii. 769 Let us utter a great Kaddish for their souls to the one, living God of Israel.
2015 K. Gramm Prayer of Jesus ix. 173 The more we pray the good prayers, the more we talk to the living God.
b. Of a person, animal, plant, or other organism, or part of it: that exhibits biological processes; that is alive.Some early views including those of Genesis exclude insentient organisms from this category: see for example quot. 1736.
ΚΠ
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xliv. 333 Nænig on heofonum ne ængcel ne nan lifgende man mid lichaman on eorðan ne nan under eorðan.
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 199 Na lifiende mon ne þurhwuned [read þurhwuneð] on þisse weorlde.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) 556 Ne mei hit liste, ne luðer strengðe nowðer, of na liuiende mon lowsin ne leoðien.
a1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 4 Ne non liuiinde þing woc þer nis ne ȝeomer.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. viii. l. 64 Libbinde Laborers þat libben bi heore hondes.
a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 78 (MED) She loued him best, I you ensure, Of any othre living creature.
c1480 (a1400) St. John Evangelist 577 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 126 Þar ves na liffand man þat mycht se hym for þat mekil lycht.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 59 Oþer many euelys comyn, þurgh whilk many leuand creatures ar perschyd.
?1553 (c1501) G. Douglas Palice of Honour (London) Prol. l. 112 in Shorter Poems (1967) 14 Saw neuir man so faynt a leuand wycht.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 116 All leuing man in to this warld sa round Sall loue thy name.
c1600 (c1350) Alisaunder (Greaves) (1929) l. 790 A libbing lud lay in hur armes.
1665 S. Pepys Diary 22 Sept. (1972) VI. 236 An Ewe-tree..which upon cutting with an addes, we found to be rather harder then the living tree usually is.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. i. 27 The supposed Likeness which is observed between the Decay of Vegetables, and of living Creatures.
1791 E. Burke Appeal New to Old Whigs 32 That he preferred a dead carcase to his living children.
1841 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom xxviii. 560 The Crocodile..likewise kills living prey.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 197 After this we encountered no living thing.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 1 The living succulent parts of plants.
1936 W. Stiles Introd. Princ. Plant Physiol. v. 94 Certain bacteria, which were living cells.
1986 Sunday Express 7 Dec. (Mag.) 58/1 No plastic lookalike can come anywhere near the beauty of living branches.
2006 G. Mortenson & D. O. Relin Three Cups of Tea i. 7 Other than snow leopard and ibex,..few living creatures have passed through this barren icescape.
c. Currently alive, or alive at the time under discussion; contemporary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [adjective]
present1340
nowa1393
presentary?a1425
unrun1474
modernc1485
hodiern?a1513
actual1525
modernal1542
instantc1550
this1582
immediate1605
current1608
nowadays1609
nowaday1632
hodiernal1656
living1659
running1659
daily1663
existent1676
existing1827
present-day1833
presential1878
today1908
1659 A. Brome in R. Brome Five New Playes (new ed.) To Rdrs. sig. A4 The Art and Composition come onely from Books and such living Masters as that our great Laureat.
1739 W. Smith in tr. On Sublime p. xviii Limbs are broken off, which it is not in the Power of any living Artist to replace.
1783 London Mag. Oct. 349/2 Mr. Bonnor is a good figure; his manner seems his own, at least he did not remind us of any living actor.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. xiv. 457 He was generally esteemed the greatest living master of the art of war.
1859 J. Ruskin Two Paths ii. 83 He went to Rome and ordered various works of living artists.
1952 A. Huxley Let. c20 July (1969) 647 A man who is probably the greatest living virtuoso in the field of hypnosis.
1989 Brantford (Ont.) Expositor 18 Mar. b10 Mother Theresa, popularly known as The Living Saint, assisted with the ordination of 13 nuns.
2015 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 13 Mar. c18/3 The fair has been freshened up by a selling exhibition of sculpture by living artists.
4. In extended use, of a thing: that appears to be alive; that acts or moves as if alive; animated (cf. lively adj. 1b); spec. (a) (of water) constantly or perennially flowing; (hence) refreshing, pure, fresh; (b) (of rock or stone) in its native condition and site, as part of the earth's crust; forming part of a natural mass; = live adj.1 3b; (c) (of embers, cinders, etc.) burning, flaming, glowing; = live adj.1 2.Frequently in figurative context in religious writings, alluding to Christ: see also living bread n. at Compounds.See also living coal n. at Compounds, living rock n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > [adjective]
livingeOE
flowinga1000
runningOE
quicka1300
livish?1536
lively1548
streaming1579
streamyc1595
crystal-flowing1605
preterlabent1670
manant1727
affluent1863
the world > matter > liquid > water > [adjective] > properties or characteristics of water > pure or clear
livingeOE
fairOE
purec1300
cleara1400
skirea1400
crystalc1425
lucent1820
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > fire or flame > [adjective] > live or burning (of coals)
quickeOE
live1572
lively1581
living1697
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) Epil. 467 He [sc. God] cwæð ðæt he wolde ðæt on worulde forð of ðæm innoðum a libbendu wætru fleowen, ðe wel on hine gelifden under lyfte.
OE Cynewulf Juliana 653 Ge mid lufan sibbe, leohte geleafan, to þam lifgendan stane stiðhydge staþol fæstniað.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Song of Sol. iv. 15 The welle of gardynes, the pit of liuende watris [L. aquarum viventium], that flowen with bire fro Liban.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. iii. 654 Of ryuers beþ two maner kyndes... Oon is yclepid a lyuynge ryuer [L. flumen viuum]... Þat oþer manere ryuer hatte torrens..for it encresseþ in grete reyne, and fordwyneth in drye wedir.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 18 The welle of gardyns & the dych of lyuynge watres.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxxxvi. 117 [He] made..to..come oute of the stone lyuynge and swete water.
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye i. sig. b.8v Why leave we the fontayne of livinge water and seke oure refreshinge out of polluted pooles and speciallye sith the heedspringe is so readye at hande?
1565 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc iv. ii. sig. Cviiiv Nowe those Enuious sparkes which erst lay raked In lyuing cinders of dissemblynge brest, Kindled so farre within his hartes disdaine.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 16 Christis blude..is ane leuand well Celestiall.
1619 H. Ainsworth Annot. Fourth Bk. Moses, called Numbers sig. Z3v/2 Spring (or welling) water; which for the continual motion is called living water.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 203 In a spacious Cave of living Stone [L. vasto..antro].
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 450 And living Embers on the Hearth they spred.
1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility ix. 366 What an Arrest again is it to my Pride, to see thee the Fountain of Living Water, the Refiner and Purifier of thy People.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 64/1 A high bold shore of living craggy Rock.
1767 A. Croswell Comfort in Christ 22 Forsake broken cisterns and go to the fountain of living water.
1843 G. W. Le Fevre Life Trav. Physician II. i. xiv. 45 The fish ponds..were fed by a living stream.
1872 W. Collins New Magdalen ii. in Temple Bar Oct. 299 Mercy crossed the room, and slowly raked together the last living embers of the fire.
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 1 July 3/1 (advt.) Ranch for Sale 972 acres at Nanoose Bay..living stream running through property.
1983 Big Bend 6 Big Bend's desert has living sand dunes, painted badlands, and petrified trees.
2000 C. Brockway Reckless One xxxi. 354 She darted across the room, waving her second torch in the air, shedding a cloud of living embers in her wake.
5.
a. figurative. Existing or perceived in the present moment; real, extant; currently practised or in use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > lively, vivacious, or animated > specifically of things > of an issue, etc.
livingeOE
livish?1536
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn Minor Lat.-Old Eng. Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 202 [Caeciliae] viuacem [condere laudem] : þæt lifigende.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) 1 Pet. i. 3 The fadir of oure Lord Jhesu Crist..bigat vs aȝen in to lyuynge [c1384 E.V. quik; L. vivam] hope, bi the aȝen risyng of Jhesu Crist.
1531 Bp. W. Barlow Dyaloge Lutheran Faccyons To Rdrs. sig. c2 I exhorte you all..to fyx your selfe vppon the lyuynge worde of god.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xlvi. 261/2 So Constantines glorious life drew to an end, though his liuing-glory shall be endlesse.
1657 M. Lawrence Use & Pract. Faith vii. 180 Their faith is a living faith, their hope a living hope.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) li. xx Their every Thought, and Word, and Deed, That from a living Faith proceed.
1768 C. Lucas Mirror for Courts-Martial 46 He, in compassion..mentions not one of their names, wishing rather to devote them to perpetual oblivion, than to living infamy.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. i. 8 Each man had..living trust in the continual care of Almighty God.
1863 O. W. Holmes Oration delivered before City Authorities of Boston 4th July 3 It is the living question of the hour, and not the dead story of the past, which forces itself into all minds.
1871 F. W. Farrar Witness of Hist. ii. 65 The idea..was created solely by the living fact.
1958 Spectator 24 Jan. 103/1 Its report is a living document which..will gradually influence public opinion.
1986 T. Crace Continent i. 17 She is, she says, interested in living folklore.
2002 Wanderlust Feb. 21/1 But behind the ‘tourist voodoo’ of dolls and amulets sold in souvenir shops lies a living religion.
b. spec. Of a language: still in vernacular use. Cf. dead language n. at dead adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > [adjective] > living, dead, or archaic
forsakena1613
living1657
mort1659
modern1699
middle1830
archaic1832
relict1887
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > [adjective] > native
live1600
lively1609
living1657
native1680
innate1887
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [adjective] > incandescent > of combustibles
live1572
living1657
lively1844
1657 H. Some tr. P. Pellisson-Fontanier Hist. French Acad. iii. 109 It would confirm and in some sort fix the Body of the Language, and hinder it, not from changing at all, (for that can never be hoped in any of the living Languages [Fr. des Langues vivantes]) but at least from changing so often and so suddenly as it doth.
1697 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris 51 Every living Language..is in perpetual motion and alteration.
1706 A. Bedford Temple Musick ii. 45 The Hebrew ceasing to be a Living Language.
1749 J. Mason Ess. Power of Numbers & Princ. Harmony 12 Not only in English but French, and..every living Language in Europe.
1775 J. Walker Dict. Eng. Lang. p. v A rhyming dictionary in a living language, for the purposes of poetry, seems no very unnatural or useless production.
1807 G. Crabbe Library (rev. ed.) in Poems 139 Here all the living Languages abound.
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. ii. i. 213 In Iceland, where the language of their runic literature is still a living tongue.
1903 P. W. Joyce Social Hist. Anc. Ireland I. xii. 472 Irish, like all other living languages, has undergone great changes.
1943 Glasgow Herald 1 Dec. 4/2 Gaelic is a living speech.
2015 Hindustan Times (Nexis) 6 July Sanskrit is one of the oldest living languages in world.
6. With modifying word: that passes life in a specified manner; that follows a specified course of life.For more established compounds, as clean-, fast-, gracious-, hard-living, etc.: see the first element. See also free-living adj., high-living adj., well-living adj.Earliest in well-living adj.
ΚΠ
OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lxxiii. 118 Quid aliud sunt, nisi bene viventium et obedientium monachorum instituta virtutum? : hwæt elles sind butan wel libbendra & gehirsumera muneca & gesetnessa mihta.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. B.15.17) (1975) B. xv. l. 93 Holynesse and honeste out of holy chirche spredeþ [emended in ed. to spryngeþ] Thoruȝ lele libbynge men.
?a1425 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Lamb. 472) (2000) i. lvii. l. 1620 Bodili pride is of fleischli lyvynge men.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 33 Vnkunnynge & euyl leuynge prelatis.
1587 H. Parry tr. Z. Ursinus Summe of Christian Relig. 109 When of a good father is borne an euil and euil-liuing sonne.
1628 Heavens Glory 56 That's a God-louing, and good-liuing man.
1745 J. Maud Apol. for Clergy 49 A wicked living Clergyman is enough to make not only some, but all of his Parishioners turn Dissenters.
1884 Med. Times & Gaz. 30 Aug. 283/2 Calcutta is an earthly paradise for those cautiously-living people whom gout threatens, but has not crippled.
1901 Daily Chron. 19 Oct. 3/1 Richardson..was..a good and virtuous-living man.
2010 N.Y. Times Mag. 18 Apr. 16/3 For organic-eating, right-living parents whose girls are merely on the fleshy side of average.
7.
a. Of or relating to a living person, or to what is living (as opposed to what is dead, or to what is artificial, inanimate, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [adjective] > relating to
living1484
live1531
lively1532
creaturely1637
creatural1642
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) cxx. 160 He had on hym good and warme gownes, & had a mantell, and a double hood, and was reed as a cok, and had a good lyuynge colour [Fr. de bonne couleur et vive].
1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello Tragicall Hist. Romeus & Iuliet f. 75 Who reft by force of armes From thee thy liuing breath.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. Proem sig. Bb4v But if in liuing colours, and right hew, thy selfe thou couet to see pictured, who can it doe more liuely, or more trew, then that sweete verse.
1616 T. Tuke Treat. against Paintng 3 Saint Origen likewise taxeth painted women..for dawbing their liuing face with dead colours.
1676 J. Glanvill Ess. iii. 6 Death having overcome that Envy which dog's living Virtue to the Grave.
1769 Oxf. Expulsion Condemned 62 Or are there none but these expelled students who are supported by living charity?
1817 T. Moore Lalla Rookh iii. 45 That keen, second-scent of death, By which the vulture snuffs his food In the still warm and living breath.
1836 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (1837) III. xxiii. 351 It is as if a living hand were to touch cold iron.
1877 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) I. 341 The newly-invented study of living history is the chief joy of so many of our lives.
1938 G. Greene in Spectator 10 June 1056/2 Compare that inn room with the one Garbo and Gilbert occupied in Queen Christina and you have the difference between literary and living passion.
1969 F. Edwards G. Fawkes 227 Doubtless, he was given no time for explanation or protest, and his last living thoughts none could record.
2010 D. L. Temple Dose of Insanity xliv. 216 The only living voices to be heard were the screams of gulls as they fought over the storm's bounty of dead creatures.
b. within living memory: in the recollection of people still alive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > recency > [adverb] > within living memory
within living memory1775
1775 London Evening-Post 18 Mar. The case actually happened in Denmark, almost within living memory.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiv. 438 There had within living memory been no equally serious encounter between the English and French.
1888 J. W. Burgon Lives Twelve Good Men II. v. 1 No ecclesiastic within living memory..has enjoyed a larger share of personal celebrity.
1933 Times 13 Jan. 13/4 It is to be feared that Horace has lost ground, though within living memory he was constantly quoted in senates.
1986 O. Rackham Hist. Countryside iii. 27 The practical pressure on land is now less than it has been within living memory.
2007 New Yorker 27 Aug. 84/1 This is a timely book, reminding us of the good things that the United States has achieved within living memory.
8. Full of life or vigour; fresh, vivid; lively, vibrant. Cf. lively adj. 3, 5, 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective]
sprindeOE
livelyOE
kaskc1300
wightc1300
courageousc1386
wighty14..
wieldya1413
ablec1440
tall of hand1530
sappy1558
energical1565
energetical1585
greenya1586
stout1600
strenuous1602
forceful?1624
actuous1626
vigorous1638
vivid1638
high-spirited1653
hearty1665
actuose1677
living1699
full-blooded1707
executive1708
rugged1731
sousing1735
energic1740
bouncing1743
two-fisted1774
energetic1782
zestful1797
rollicking1801
through-ganging1814
throughgoing1814
slashing1828
high-powered1829
high pressure1834
rip-roaring1834
red-blooded1836
ripsnorting1846
zesty1853
dynamic1856
throbbing1864
goey1875
torpedoic1893
kinky1903
zippy1903
go-at-it1904
punchy1907
up-and-at-'em1909
driving1916
vibranta1929
kinetic1931
zinging1931
high-octane1936
zingy1938
slam-bang1939
balls-to-the-wall1967
balls-out1968
ass-kicking1977
hi-octane1977
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > vivid or bright
brightOE
skirea1400
livelyc1425
quickc1425
freshlyc1426
flamingc1450
vive1591
florid1642
vivid1665
hot1673
living1699
aurorean1880
vibrant1971
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > lively
quick?c1225
lively1525
spirited1670
living1699
sparkling1701
tittuping1772
vivacious1788
dashing1796
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [adjective] > view or scenery > full of bright and interesting objects
lively1694
living1816
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > [adjective] > vivid
vive1528
lively1548
vivid1705
living1844
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] > vivid
coloured1571
lively1712
vivid1806
living1876
1699 W. Penn Acct. Blessed End G. M. Penn 4 During her Illness, she uttered many living and weighty Expressions.
1751 T. Gray Elegy xii. 7 Or wak'd to Extacy the living Lyre.
1816 Ld. Byron Dream ii, in Prisoner of Chillon 36 I saw two beings..Standing upon a hill,..As 'twere the cape of a long ridge of such, Save that there was no sea to lave its base, But a most living landscape.
1844 A. P. Stanley Life & Corr. T. Arnold I. ii. 46 The sight of the city and of the neighbourhood, to which he devoted himself..gave him a living interest in Rome.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest V. xxii. 47 The portrait of William is drawn..in living colours, by the Chronicler.
1888 J. W. Burgon Lives Twelve Good Men I. Pref. 9 Faithfully to commit to paper a living image of the man.
1916 Irish Monthly 44 557 The misty centuries have no power to dim the living colours in which their portraits have been painted for us.
2014 Washington Post (Nexis) 10 Nov. c1 This rush of vengeance set to music had such living intensity and bite that I wished I could see it again and again.
9. colloquial (originally U.S.). As an intensifier, in to beat (also scare, etc.) the living shit, hell, etc., out of (a person or thing): to —— (a person or thing) to an excessive or violent degree. Cf. to beat (also scare, etc.) the (living) daylights (also daylight) out of at daylight n. Phrases 2b, to —— (the) hell out of at hell n. and int. Phrases 5e, to —— the shit out of (a person or thing) at shit n. and adj. Phrases 2.
ΚΠ
1904 Anaconda (Montana) Standard 24 July ii. 5/6 For two cents I'd beat the living life out of you.
1935 J. Farrell Studs Lonigan i. i. 7 He had bashed the living moses out of that smoke who pulled a razor on him over in Carter Playground.
1950 R. Moore Candlemas Bay 24 I'm going to beat the living pickle out of this goddam sprout of mine.
1954 V. Randolph Pissing in Snow (1976) xcix. 146 So then the porters beat the living shit out of him.
1973 Los Angeles Times 31 Oct. ii. 7/5 The move scared the living bejesus out of the United States.
2004 P. Southern Craze xxii. 160 Dru detested him... His..slack-arse simpering servitude made him want to punch the living hell out of him.
B. n.1
Living people as a class. Chiefly with the and plural agreement.Cf. also land of the living at land n.1 Phrases 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [noun] > collectively
livingeOE
earthwareeOE
quickeOE
fleshc1000
naturalsa1400
live1565
life1728
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter: Canticles & Hymns (1965) iii. 2 (11) Non uidebo dominum deum in terra uiuentivm : ic ne gesio dryhten god in eorðan lifgendra.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) i. 182 Ða sette adam eft hire oðerne naman, aeua, þæt is lif for ðan ðe heo is ealra lybbendra [a1225 Vesp. A.xxii libbinde] modor.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 77 (MED) And lat him wreke ðe is riht deme ouer ðe liuiende and ouer ðe deade.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 13 (MED) He ssel come ate daye of dome to deme þe dyade and þe libbinde [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues þe queeke and þe deede].
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. ciiiiv Lord..thow life lent to levand in leid.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. vi. 8 What helpeth it the poore, that he knoweth to walke before the lyuynge?
1579 J. Brooke tr. P. Viret Christian Disputations vi. f. 274v Bicause yt he is no more conuersant among the liuing, and bicause he hath ended & finished his course.
1611 Bible (King James) Ruth ii. 20 He..hath not left off his kindnesse to the liuing and to the dead. View more context for this quotation
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland (1691) Ep. Ded. sig. A2v Your Generosity..takes all occasions of exerting it self towards the Living.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Archimime Archimimes..imitated the Manners, Gestures, and Speech both of the Living and the Dead.
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 185 The true way to mourn the dead, is to take care of the living who belong to them.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 34 Howl, Spirits of the living and the dead.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 218 If one may judge the living by the dead.
1958 C. Achebe Things fall Apart iv. 27 Their clan is full of the evil spirits of these unburied dead, hungry to do harm to the living.
1986 D. A. Dye Platoon (1987) v. 71 Hey, Taylor. You back among the living?
2006 M. Pollan Omnivore's Dilemma viii. 127 A healthy soil digests the dead to nourish the living.
Compounds
living bread n. Theology (Christian Church) (frequently with the) used with reference or allusion to Christ as the spiritual nourishment which brings eternal life; (also) the Eucharistic bread; cf. senses A. 3a and A. 4.In John 6:51 (see quot. a1425), Christ uses the phrase of himself, contrasted with the manna earlier provided as sustenance for the Israelites in the wilderness (see manna n.1 1a). [After post-classical Latin panis vivus (Vulgate), itself after Hellenistic Greek ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν , lit. ‘the living bread’ (New Testament); compare lively bread and Old English līflic hlāf , both at lively adj. 1b, and the etymological note at that entry.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > giving of life > [noun] > one who or that which
living breada1425
quickenera1500
vivificatora1555
life-giver1569
vivification1631
informer1662
vivifier1860
vitalizer1882
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) John vi. 51 Y am lyuynge breed [c1384 E.V. quyk breed; L. panis vivus], that cam doun fro heuene. If ony man ete of this breed, he schal lyue withouten ende. And the breed that Y schal ȝyue, is my fleisch for the lijf of the world.
1532 tr. G. van der Goude Interpretacyon & Sygnyfycacyon Masse iii. Prol. sig. p.iv In all maner that the naturall breade is apoynted and laboured for the profyte of the body so is also the lyuynge breade spyrytually apoynted in the holy sacrament.
1616 T. Granger Bread of Life 30 It is liuing bread, not onely because it hath life in it selfe, but also because it giueth life vnto vs which are dead.
1754 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 431/1 With healthful meat our bodies fed, Our souls sustained with living bread.
1838 J. H. Newman Lect. Justif. vi. 170 The two Sacraments ‘of the Gospel’, are the instruments of inward life, according to our Lord's declaration, that Baptism is a new birth, and that in the Eucharist we eat the living Bread.
1869 R. Newton Bible Wonders 85 Luther..said he would never stop preaching to the people about Jesus, and so keep from them the living bread.
1988 D. Eastman & J. Hayford Living & Praying in Jesus' Name xxviii. 165 In Christ, who is our ‘living bread’, salvation is freely given.
2015 News-Item (Shamokin, Pa.) (Nexis) 17 Aug. The Eucharist always nourished him, like it nourishes us today and every day we accept the living bread.
living chess n. a game of chess in which living people take the part of chess pieces.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > form of chess
living chess1836
kriegspiel1903
fairy chess1914
1836 New Monthly Belle Assemblée July 47/1 We hear the Living Chess Players are to give their performances on alternate evenings, with Mr. Love.
1843 Le Palamède Mar. 140 A Londres, il y a sept ans, le directeur du Palamède assista lui-même à une représentation de ce genre..sous le titre: ‘Living Chess’ (Les Échecs Vivans).
1929 Brit. Chess Mag. 69 126 A picturesque display of living chess was given by the schoolboys.
2010 Weekend Austral. 2 Oct. 8 The spectacular opening ceremony included a display of living chess.
living coal n. a glowing or burning coal; also in figurative context; cf. sense A. 4(c).
ΚΠ
1622 T. Matthew Of Love Iesus Christ lxx. 412 Christ our Lord is this liuing coale, of the fire of loue.
1735 W. Somervile Chace i. 59 What remains On living Coals they broil.
1797 W. Dickson tr. J. B. Massillon Serm. II. iv. 140 Triumph over his malice, by your manners and by your silence: you will heap living coals upon his head.
1916 Hotel Monthly Mar. 63/1 A unique feature of this room is an open fireplace with illusion of living coals made by the glow of two hidden electric light bulbs.
1982 P. Blue Cloud Elderberry Flute Song 23 The living coal was dislodged in that cave and smoldered on his grass bedding and caught and held and devoured the pile of sticks.
living corpse n. figurative a person who is technically alive, but otherwise unresponsive and incapable of participating in life; cf. living dead n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > manner of life > specific > one who
liverc1405
living corpse1659
living dead1696
lifer1939
1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. xiii. 484 They paved the Churches with their prostrate bodies, which were so penitently pallid and deplorable, that they seemed only living corpses and breathing carkases.
1740 G. S. Tacheron tr. J.-P. de Crousaz New Maxims Educ. Youth v. 155 Mutilated, living Corpses, disquieted and tormented by the Complaints of others as well as distressed by their own Pains.
1860 J. W. Palmer tr. M. J. Michelet Love iv. viii. 243 It may be said that she came out of the asylum a living corpse [Fr. elle sortit morte], and it was not long before she died in reality.
2015 Cape Argus (Nexis) 1 July 13 Rape, to my mind, is a crime perhaps worse than murder—in the latter case, the victim, at least is dead, and not a living corpse.
living death n. figurative a continuing state of misery neither resulting in death nor deserving the name of life; now frequently hyperbolical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun] > not deserving name of life
living deatha1530
death-in-life1577
a1530 T. Lupset Compend. Treat. Dyenge Well (1534) sig. C.iv Synne, that is the lyuynge dethe of the soule.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 98 That I should liue this liuyng death, Which wastes and neuer weares.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 100 To live a life half dead, a living death, And buried. View more context for this quotation
1904 N.Z. Illustr. Mag. July 278 The cruel fate which had condemned him to the living death of a boundary dog, had not yet wholly..embittered him.
2002 I. Sansom Truth about Babies 248 Routines are a kind of living death: I feel like a man facing a firing squad.
living donation n. the action or process of a living person donating an organ or other body part for transplantation; cf. living donor n.
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1967 N.Z Law Jrnl. 21 Mar. 109/2 There are other aspects to living donation which must be considered as well. The recipient's own conscience may weigh very heavily on him in accepting a graft from a close relative.
1995 M. E. Adams in H. S. Frazier & F. Mosteller Med. worth Paying For 88 The donor pool could be increased through..encouragement of living donation from both related and nonrelated sources.
2015 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 14 Jan. a1 Living donation has taken place since 1954, initially restricted to close family members, later expanded to include friends.
living donor n. a living person who donates a part of his or her body for transplantation; cf. living donation n.Living donors typically donate a kidney, or part of the liver, lung, or pancreas.
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1944 Irish Times 1 Apr. 3/1 Failing a living donor, a cornea may come from the eye of a person who has just died.
1951 North Adams (Mass.) Transcript 21 Apr. 2/3 The 40-year-old Springfield surgeon who performed the rare operation of transplanting a kidney from a living donor to a patient at Springfield hospital earlier this month.
2011 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 6 Mar. (Week in Review section) 12/4 Donor chains begin with a living donor willing to donate to anyone on the waiting list.
living fence n. a fence or barrier formed from living wood or plants, esp. hawthorn.
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1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 357 For a living-fence, I met with none so..serviceal as those, made by the planching of Quicksets.
1764 T. Harmer Observ. Passages Script. v. 217 We are not however to imagine there are no inclosures in these countries at all: they have mounds of earth, or living fences, about their gardens.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Sept. i. 4/2 In Mali..it [sc. jatropha] has been used for decades by farmers as a living fence that keeps grazing animals off their fields.
living flame n. a burning, visible flame; (now) frequently attributive designating a domestic gas fire that simulates the appearance of a coal or log fire.
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1678 R. Boyle in R. Hooke Lect. & Coll. 63 It might be worth while to try whether his Phosphorus did shine by virtue of a kind of real or (if I may so call it) living flame.
1742 J. Martyn & E. Chambers tr. Philos. Hist. & Mem. Royal Acad. Sci. Paris II. 387 A living flame..without any matter to sustain it other than what it receives from the situation of the subterraneous places.
1882 R. L. Stevenson Merry Men in Cornhill Mag. July 64 Had the sea been a lake of living flames, he could not have shrunk more panically from its touch.
1966 Guardian 13 Aug. 11/3 The coal-effect fire went like a bomb... The new ‘living flame’ fire.
2004 J. Denby Billie Morgan ii. 9 A big, cushioney red sofa to curl up on in front of the living flame gas fire.
living force n. [after post-classical Latin vis viva (G. W. Leibniz, in Acta Eruditorum (1695) 149)] Physics (now historical) the operative force of a moving or acting body; = vis viva at vis n.2 2c.
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the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > [noun] > kinetics > operative force of moving body
living force1728
vis viva1780
force1841
1728 Philos. Trans. 1727–8 (Royal Soc.) 35 387 The dead Force, was always proportional to the Square of the Velocity (which these Gentlemen [sc. Leibniz and others] affect fantastically to call the living Force).
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. (ed. 2) xiv. 355 That which is denoted by the term Living Force, though it has absolutely no right to be called force, is something as real as matter itself.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxiv. 587 The quantity mv2..is called the kinetic energy; in Lagrange's day it was called living force.
living fossil n. a plant or animal species that has survived the extinction of others of its group, typically with little apparent evolutionary change; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > balance of nature > [noun] > extinction > creature that has survived extinction
living fossil1859
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species iv. 107 These anomalous forms may almost be called living fossils; they have endured to the present day, from having inhabited a confined area, and from having thus been exposed to less severe competition.
1935 C. J. Chamberlain Gymnosperms iv. 61 The cycads of today may well be called ‘living fossils’.
1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo viii. 186 You see here before you not just any old native speaker but the very last of the native speakers. A living fossil, no less.
2014 New Yorker 24 Nov. 47/1 The ginkgo family has been around since before the dinosaurs, and its only remaining member, Ginkgo biloba, is a living fossil.
living gale n. Nautical a powerful wind or storm.
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1769 W. Falconer Shipwreck (ed. 3) i. 44 Here frown'd the god that wakes the living gale.
1871 H. B. Sterndale in Austral. Town & Country Jrnl. 23 Sept. 394/2 They are good boatmen, I have been to sea with them several times in a living gale of wind in small boats.
1995 H. Roth Conversat. in Country Store 10 My father used to say it was snowing a living gale when I was born.
living hell n. a place, state, or situation of ongoing and seemingly endless suffering or misery; (hyperbolical) an extremely unpleasant situation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [noun]
tintreghc893
threat971
piningOE
murderOE
anguish?c1225
woea1250
pinec1275
tormentc1290
languorc1300
heartbreakc1330
surcarkingc1330
martyrement1340
threst1340
agonyc1384
martyrdomc1384
tormentryc1386
martyre?a1400
tormentisec1405
rack?a1425
anguishing1433
angorc1450
anguishnessa1475
torture?c1550
heartsickness1556
butchery1582
heartache1587
anguishment1592
living hell1596
discruciation1597
heart-aching1607
throeing1615
rigour1632
crucifixion1648
lancination1649
bosom-hell1674
heart-rending1707
brain-racking1708
tormentation1789
bosom-throe1827
angoisse1910
1596 T. Lodge Margarite of Amer. sig. F4 Who seekes in life to finde a liuing hell, Where he that liues, all liuing ioy forbeares.
1655 tr. G. B. Manzini Academicall Disc. (ed. 2) 95 For whom could I have prolonged a life, which Widdow-hood, and the losse of a childe, old Age and Famine, makes a living Hell.
1789 J. Swain Redemption iii. 98 His pow'r..can turn thy thoughts On thy own actions, till a sense of guilt Within thy mind creates a living hell.
1875 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Sentinel 24 Feb. 7/2 These, our agents, have produced the miseries of our starving, freezing poor, have reduced their homes to a living hell.
1981 W. Foley Back to Forest 23 The first four months of my pregnancies have always been a living hell of nausea.
2014 Times (Nexis) 20 Dec. (Sat. Review) 36 Spielberg flings the audience into the chaos and slaughter of the Normandy landings... It's a living hell, evoked with unavoidable clarity.
living history n. originally North American a method of presenting information on history and culture, in which the living conditions, working methods, styles of dress, etc., of past eras are recreated and often re-enacted by performers, typically in a museum setting or as part of an educational programme; frequently attributive as living history museum, living history re-enactment, etc.
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1960 Southwestern Hist. Q. 64 266 Alexander J. Wall, assistant director of Old Sturbridge Village, New England's center of living history.
1961 Morning Herald (Hagerstown, Maryland) 15 Apr. 7/5 The club will travel in a body to the Living History Museum to view the Civil War slides.
1996 Mid-Atlantic Weekends Spring 70/3 The 1840 House, a typical middle-class rowhouse, comes alive with living-history interpreters.
2015 Times (Nexis) 2 May (Weekend section) 3 Watch demonstrations of fighting techniques, living history re-enactments and take part in a battle.
living image n. a person or thing with a striking resemblance to a specified original.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > [noun] > a representation
form?c1225
figurea1340
likeness1340
print1340
nebshaftc1350
resemblancea1393
visagea1400
similitude?a1425
representationc1450
simulacre1483
representa1500
semblance1513
idea1531
image1531
similitudeness1547
type1559
living image1565
portrait1567
counter-figure1573
shadow1580
countershape1587
umbrage1604
medal1608
reflex1608
remonstrance1640
transcript1646
configurationa1676
phantom1690
facsimile1801
personation1851
featuring1864
zoomorph1883
1565 Compend. Bk. Godly Psalmes sig. Gii Gif ȝe lufe Christ, hait not his word, His leuand Ymage.
1693 N. Tate tr. P. Coste Life Lewis Bourbon i. 93 Others believ'd him to be the Living Image of Cæsar, not only in respect of the Capacity, Prudence and Conduct of that Illustrious Roman, but also in regard of his Eloquence.
1829 G. Griffin Collegians (ed. 2) I. ix. 187 Sure I'd know that face all over the world,—your own liven' image, ma'am.
1931 R. Campbell Georgiad i. 15 Here's the first number—see, upon the cover, The living image of a country lover.
2007 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 4 Nov. 3 In the eyes of many, Henry Cele's death amounts to the loss of the living image of King Shaka Zulu.
living instrument n. Law a legal document with current and meaningful force; (now esp.) such a document interpreted according to contemporary conditions, rather than to its meaning at the time of its creation.
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1856 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 11 Mar. The Constitution is a living instrument, and confers upon the present Congress the same powers that it conferred on the first Congress.
1935 Manch. Guardian 4 Sept. 8/2 The Covenant [of the League of Nations] is a living instrument for the prevention of war.
1961 Labor Law Jrnl. 12 173/2 Neither party will find the contract a useful living instrument defining their day to day relationships.
2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 28 June The convention [sc. the European Convention on Human Rights] is a living instrument and as society's mores change, the way the convention is interpreted changes.
Living Newspaper n. [after Russian živaja gazeta (1920 or earlier in this sense)] now historical a form of documentary theatre consisting of a series of short political or social scenes, readings, etc., intended to illuminate topical events; a show performed in this style.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > variety, etc. > [noun] > revue
passing show1715
revue1840
follies1874
review1897
revusical1915
Living Newspaper1925
Revudeville1932
1925 Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Nov. 772/4 There is an amusing account of the ‘living newspaper’ in Verchne Udinsk, where the editorial staff appear on a stage and read their articles to the assembled audience.
1927 Observer 16 Oct. 12 Soviet Russia's ‘Living Newspaper’..appeared for the first time this week in Berlin. It was a small edition only, consisting of eight men and four women, grouped under the title of ‘Blue Blouses’.
1948 Billboard 8 May 49 For the fifth play of the series the Invitational Theater has selected Hallie Flanagan's E-MC2, the script about the atomic bomb employing the living newspaper technique.
1997 N.Y. Mag. 3 Nov. 54/2 During the Depression years there was a theatrical genre known as Living Newspapers, where actors performed the news of the day.
living picture n. [in sense (a) after French tableau vivant tableau vivant n.] now historical (a) a silent and motionless person or group of people posed and attired to represent a well-known character, event, or work of art; = tableau vivant n.; (b) a motion picture.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > [noun]
living picture1851
kineograph1891
motion picture1891
picture1894
animatograph1896
cinematograph1896
moving picture1896
kinetogram1897
film1899
bioscope1902
action film1909
cinema1909
movie1910
photodrama1910
photoplay1910
movie picture1913
pic1913
screenplay1913
photonovel1916
flick1926
moom pitcher1929
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > tableau > [noun]
pageantc1450
picture1588
spectacle1752
tableau vivant1821
tableau1828
living picture1851
set piece1859
1851 Peterson's Mag. 19 61 A Tableau Vivant is literally what its name imports—a living picture composed of living persons; and, when skilfully arranged and seen at a proper distance, it produces all the effect of a real picture.
1895 G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 6 Apr. 443/2 I sat out the entire list of sixteen ‘Living Pictures’. Half a dozen represented naiads, mountain sprites, peris, and Lady Godiva, all practically undraped.
1897 Knowledge 1 Sept. 216/2 Kinetography: the production of ‘living pictures’.
1899 H. V. Hopwood Living Pict. vi. 207 The first requirement in the projection, as in the taking, of Living Pictures is absolute rigidity of the apparatus.
1962 E. Larsen Film Making i. 18 Soon nearly every variety show contained ‘living pictures’ as a programme item.
1983 C. Evans Frontier Theatre 266 The idea of a living picture, given Victorian propriety, was to couch the still stage picture in a romantic or classical context in order to rationalize the overt sexual display.
living pledge n. Law (now historical) a pledge (of land) given as surety for a debt until such time as the debt is paid out of its profits and proceeds, whereupon it reverts to its original owner.
ΚΠ
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. (new ed.) II. 157 Vivum vadium, or living pledge, is when a man borrows a sum (suppose 200l.) of another; and grants him an estate, as, of 20l. per annum, to hold till the rents and profits shall repay the sum so borrowed.
2012 M. P. Thompson Mod. Land Law (ed. 5) 465 If the income from the land was used to discharge the loan, the transaction was termed a vivum vadium, or living pledge. Alternatively, the mortgagee could retain the income, leaving the loan outstanding. This was known as a mortuum vadium or dead pledge, from which the term 'mortgage' derives.
living proof n. a person, thing, or occurrence whose existence, qualities, etc., demonstrate that a specified thing is true; now esp. in to be living proof of (also that), to be the (also a) living proof of (also that).In early use esp. in religious contexts.
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1688 J. Dryden tr. D. Bouhours Life St. Francis Xavier i. 1 I have undertaken to write the Life of a Saint, who..was himself a living proof [Fr. une preuve vivante] of Christianity.
1702 R. Evans Holy Emulation Urged 257 The most effectual Way to commend 'em [sc. the sermons], is to Copy them out in your Actions, for that's a living Proof that you are affected with, and approve it.
1847 Visct. Ebrington tr. Père Girard Mother-tongue iv. v. 213 They will easily discover in the Christian Church the living proof of His resurrection, since it is on the faith of this miracle that it was first founded and built, and still rests.
1946 Cosmopolitan Oct. 69 Cap Lathrop is living proof that anybody can make a go of it in Alaska.
2002 D. Zevin Day I turned Uncool 145 I am living proof that trapped within every indoorsperson, there is an outdoorsperson.
living rock n. rock in its original condition and site, forming part of the earth's crust; cf. sense A. 4(b).
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1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. viii. 909 This entrie being of an exceeding height..closed aboue with admirable Architecture, the Marble so great, and so cunningly ioyned, as had it beene hewen through the liuing Rocke.
1786 R. Polwhele tr. Theocritus Idyllia 219 A sweet perennial Spring Flows tinkling from the living Rock, that gleams Thro' bowering Laurel, Myrtles, and the Shrub Of odour'd Cypress.
1821 J. Baillie Metrical Legends 31 His soldiers, firm as living rock, Now braced them for the battle's shock.
1893 E. A. T. W. Budge Mummy 14 The Sphinx is hewn out of the living rock.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 24 Oct. 40 Mahabalipuram, a remarkable temple complex cut from the living rock of the Coromandel Coast.
living roof n. †(a) a roof or canopy formed of living trees; cf. living fence n. (obsolete); (b) = green roof n. at green adj. and n.1 Compounds 1d(a).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > roof > [noun] > types of roof generally
vaulta1387
plat-roofa1425
pend1454
faunsere1460
compassed roofa1552
terrace1572
sotie1578
crown1588
arch-roof1594
arch1609
under-roof1611
concameration1644
voltoa1660
hip roof1663
French roof1669
oversail1673
jerkinhead1703
mansard1704
curb-roof1733
shed roof1736
gable roof1759
gambrel roof1761
living roof1792
pent roof1794
span-roof1823
wagon-head1823
azotea1824
rafter roof1825
rooflet1825
wagon-vault1835
bell-roof1842
spire-roof1842
cradle-roof1845
packsaddle roof1845
open roof1847
umbrella roof1847
gambrel1848
packsaddle1848
compass-roof1849
saddleback1849
saddle roof1850
curbed roof1866
wagon-roof1866
saw-tooth roof1900
trough roof1905
skillion roof1911
north-light roof1923
shell roof1954
green roof1984
knee-roof-
1792 R. Heron tr. J.-F. Marmontel in tr. New Coll. Moral Tales I. 62 Young lime-trees were transplanted, to form a double peristyle round the consecrated spot; their spreading boughs adorned with a fresh and delicate verdure, met within, and covered it with a living roof.
1834 W. Wordsworth Noonday Hymn 20 A church in every grove that spreads Its living roof above our heads.
1985 G. Matthews Heart of Country i. 10 He removed the canvas from his wagon and tied it into place..then covered this with more sod, grass side up, to form a living roof.
2010 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 13 Aug. d1/4 A 7,500-square-foot extensive green roof is planted in native plants... The living roof..keeps the building cooler in summer.
living rosary n. (a) a method of reciting the rosary by an association of fifteen members, each of whom undertakes to recite a specific decade, typically daily (sometimes monthly); an instance of this; (b) (now more usually) a method of reciting the rosary, in which each rosary bead is represented by an individual, who typically leads the prayer assigned to the bead he or she represents; an instance of this. [In sense (a) after French Rosaire vivant (1826 in the name of the Association du Rosaire vivant , founded in Lyons by P. Jaricot; compare quot. 1839).]
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1839 Catholic Mag. Nov. 730 This association at Lyons is entitled the Association of the Living Rosary... It is a peculiar method of reciting in common the Rosary of our Lady.
1865 W. Strickland & T. W. M. Marshall Catholic Missions in S. India to 1865 vii. 105 The Living Rosary consists of an association of pious people, who agree together to recite amongst them the whole of the fifteen mysteries each day.
1904 N.Y. Times 31 Oct. 14 The ceremonies of dedication began..with the celebration of the Living Rosary... In the procession there were 170 children, one child representing each bead of the rosary.
1911 O. Zöckler in New Schaff-Herzog Encycl. Relig. Knowl. X. 93/2 Recently..there has been a tendency to form ‘Living Rosaries’, each of fifteen members, each reciting a decade daily.
1987 M. Dorris Yellow Raft in Blue Water iii. 35 I was a bead in the living rosary at the racetrack, between the first and second joyful mysteries.
2008 Evening Sun (Hanover, Pa.) (Nexis) 1 Feb. [The school] had its students create a living rosary with each student representing a different bead.
living skeleton n. figurative an individual with an extremely emaciated frame.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [noun] > thin shape > person having
staffc1405
notomy1487
rakea1529
crag1542
scrag1542
sneakbill1546
starveling1546
slim1548
ghost1590
bald-rib1598
bare-bone1598
bow-case1599
atomy1600
sneaksbill1602
thin-gut1602
anatomya1616
sharg1623
skeleton1630
raw-bone1635
living skeleton1650
strammel1706
scarecrow1711
rickle of bones1729
shargar1754
squeeze-crab1785
rack of bones1804
thread-paper1824
bag of bones1838
dry-bones1845
skinnymalink1870
hairpin1879
slim jim1889
skinny1907
underweight1910
asthenic1925
ectomorph1940
skinny-malinky1957
matchstick1959
1650 H. Neville Newes from New Exchange 11 She hath drawn him so low, that he will never make Mummy; and therefore intends to prefer him for a living Skeleton to Surgeon's hall.
1777 D. Lysons Farther Observ. Effects of Camphire & Calomel 22 I found him, indeed, if I dont make use of too strong a Catachresis, a living skeleton; but with a good appetite.
1826 Ann. Reg. 1825 Nat. Hist. 239*/1 The name of the Living Skeleton is C. A. Seurat.
2000 J. Burnett Riot, Revelry & Rout x. 264 They included many diversions..eating, drinking, dancing, gawping at fat ladies and living skeletons, and theatrical performances.
living statue n. a performer who poses as a statue, typically remaining silent and motionless for long periods of time, usually in make-up and costume which aim to enhance the resemblance; (now) spec. a street entertainer who does this as a form of busking.With early use cf. tableau vivant n.
ΚΠ
1828 Caledonian Mercury 31 Jan. 1/1 (advt.) Royal Amphitheatre... This present Thursday..Mr. Ducrow will appear..as the Living Statue.
1841 Musical World 2 Sept. 153 The Tableaux Vivans.., a series of Marbres Vivans, or groups of living statues, somewhat wanting in the ‘cold, chaste modesty’ of their stony prototypes.
1918 W. Lewis Tarr ii. viii. 111 The model slowly and rhythmically abandoned her rigid attitude, coming to life as living statues do in ballets.
2006 F. Britten Hedonist's Guide London 12 Lots of dawdling tourists unfeasibly fascinated by those silver-frosted living statues.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > collectively
bestialityc1550
livestocka1687
living stock1690
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock
feec900
auchtOE
orfOE
avers1292
storea1300
bestialc1350
cattlea1400
ware1422
quickc1450
goods1472
stock?1523
chattel1627
live goods1635
team1655
creature1662
livestocka1687
living stock1690
farming stock1749
farm animal1805
fat-stock1881
1690 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 37 Destroying the living stock.
1794 R. Heron Gen. View Hebudæ ii. xxxiii. 46 Goats are also a part of the living stock on the farms.
1905 Poultry Herald May 237/2 All living stock sent from this farm are guaranteed to be pure-bred.
living stone n. any of the small succulent plants of the genus Lithops (family Aizoaceae), native to southern Africa and cultivated as houseplants, having a pair of typically greyish leaves resembling stones, borne on a highly reduced stem, with white or yellow daisy-like flowers which emerge from a cleft between the leaves; also called lithops, pebble plant.
ΚΠ
1930 Jrnl. Cactus & Succulent Soc. Amer. 1 206 (heading) More ‘living stones’ Lapidaria dinteranthus—riimariai.
1979 Observer 18 Feb. 42/9 Seeds of plants from all over the world are offered—from climbing spinach to..lithops (living stones) from Africa.
2005 J. Silvertown Demons in Eden i. 2 Bright flowers issue from the cleft in the living stones to claim their fifteen minutes of conspicuous fame.
living theatre n. the theatre, as opposed to the cinema.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > [noun]
stage1589
living theatre1926
1926 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 20 Aug. 25/1 Unlike London and Paris, where the American film obliterates everything else, most of those shown in Berlin are German. And most of the people still go, nightly, to the living theater, instead.
1963 Guardian 12 Mar. 2/6 It was deplorable that Plymouth had no living theatre.
2011 A. Hughes Performing Greek Comedy Pref. p. xiii I refer to a lifetime of experience in the living theatre.
living treasure n. a person, place, etc., thought in some way to embody or contribute to a nation's cultural heritage or identity; cf. national treasure n. 2.Now sometimes used as an official designation. [In use with reference to Japan after Japanese ningen kokuhō (1955; < ningen person, human being + kokuhō national treasure; both elements < Middle Chinese), often translated as ‘Living National Treasure’ or ‘National Living Treasure’ (compare quot. 1963). In quot. 1993 translating Maori taonga a thing highly prized (see taonga n.).]
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1869 A. W. Ward tr. E. Curtius Hist. Greece II. ii. iv. 77 The Homeric songs..invigorated the poetic memory of the nation, which possessed itself with untiring zeal of its poet as a living treasure. [No corresponding clause in the German original.]
1915 Puck (N.Y.) 25 Dec. 8/2 Germany alone of all the nations still guards a living treasure... It is her language.
1963 Washington Post 15 Oct. c20/1 Shoji Hamada, heralded as one of the world's greatest potters and one of a half-dozen contemporary Japanese designated as ‘national living treasures’ by the Emperor.
1993 New Scientist 31 July 30/1 To the Maori who live near Rotorua, the lake is a taonga—a living treasure.
2002 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 24 May 7/6 Australia's living treasure spent a quiet day at his Hodgsonvale property near Toowoomba yesterday working on his next book.
living trust n. Law and Finance (chiefly North American) a trust which is created during the lifetime of the settlor.Also known as an inter vivos trust (see inter prep. Phrases f).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > transfer of property > settlement of property > [noun] > putting property into trust > type of trust
resulting trust1693
shifting use1765
passive trust1837
living trust1913
blind trust1969
1913 Trust Companies Aug. 105/2 It should appeal especially to men of means who are in the prime of life to set aside a part of their accumulations for the purpose of creating a ‘living trust’ with some reliable trust company.
1957 Financial Times 6 June 8/8 I have arranged three living trusts for the family with the Public Trustee by handing over a small part of their investments for him to manage.
2006 W. Sullivan Nothing Gold can Stay xx. 194 In an effort to avoid estate taxes and the expense of probating our wills, [we] divided our assets and put half in a living trust for her, half in a trust for me.
living will n. Originally U.S. a written request that, if the signatory suffers severe disablement or terminal illness, he or she should not be kept alive by artificial means (such as a life-support system); (later also more generally) a directive detailing a person's preferences for treatment if incapacitated.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > transfer of property > testamentary disposition > [noun] > will > request not to be kept alive artificially
living will1969
1969 L. Kutner in Indiana Law Jrnl. 40 551 The document indicating..consent may be referred to as ‘a living will’.
1984 Sci. Amer. Dec. 62/1 Living wills have been recognized by 21 states and the District of Columbia.
1988 P. Monette Borrowed Time xii. 340 That is the point of the living will he'd signed, that we couldn't take him to intensive care and put a tube down his throat.
2015 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 7 Feb. b3 In his living will, the Manitoba MP has made it clear he's unwilling to live with any more disability than he must now manage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.2c1330
adj.n.1eOE- reviewless
- reviewlike
- reviews
- reviews column
- reviews editor
- reviews page
- reviews section
- reviewwest
- revification
- revify
- revigorate
- retail banker
- retail banking
- retail facilities
- retail market
- retail output
- retail park
- retail politics
- retail price
- retail price index
- retail price maintenance
- retail therapy
- retail trade
- retailed
- retailer