liflode

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lyflode

Noun

liflode

1. livelihood
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parson's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, section 53, line 685:

     Now certes, this foule sinne Accidie is eek a ful greet enemy to the lyflode of the body; for it ne hath no purveaunce agayn temporel necessitee; for it forsleweth and forsluggeth, and destroyeth alle goodes temporeles by reccheleesnesse.

     Now certainly this foul sin Sloth is also a very great enemy to the sustenance of the body, for it has no preparation against temporal necessity, for it loses by delaying and spoils through sluggishness and destroys all temporal goods by carelessness.

References

• “liflode”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.