living

English

Etymology

By surface analysis, live +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪvɪŋ/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪvɪŋ

Verb

living

1. present participle and gerund of live

Adjective

living (not comparable)

1. Having life; alive.

   a living, breathing child

   Respect for the dead does not preclude respect for the living.

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page ix:

     It is also pertinent to note that the current obvious decline in work on holarctic hepatics most surely reflects a current obsession with cataloging and with nomenclature of the organisms—as divorced from their study as living entities.

2. In use or existing.

   Hunanese is a living language.

   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     The cab pulled up in front of a tumbledown cheap ‘villa’ in an unfinished cheap neighbourhood, — the whole place a living monument of the defeat of the speculative builder.

3. True to life.

   This is the living image of Fidel Castro.

4. Of rock or stone, existing in its original state and place.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     This we followed for about five paces, when it suddenly widened out into a small chamber, about eight feet square, and hewn out of the living rock.

5. Continually updated; not static

   HTML is a living standard.

6. Used as an intensifier.

   He almost beat the living daylights out of me.

Synonyms

• (having life): extant, living, vital; see also Thesaurus:alive
• (existing): extant; See also Thesaurus:existent
• (representing life): lifey, lifelike, limned, lively, naturalistic
• (intensifier): blasted, doggone, stinking; see also Thesaurus:damned

Antonyms

• dead
• nonliving

Hyponyms

• long-living
• longest-living

Derived terms

• activities of daily living
• by the living jingo
• clean-living
• free-living
• in living color
• in living memory
• knock the living daylights out of
• living bandage
• living constitution
• living dead
• living death
• living end
• living floor
• living fossil
• living hell
• living hinge
• living impaired
• living language
• living legend
• livingly
• living mulch
• living museum
• living newspaper
• living picture
• living proof
• living rock
• living room
• living sculpture
• living shield
• living space
• living statue
• living stone
• living street
• living thing
• living tissue
• living tree doctrine
• living trust
• living wage
• living wall
• living will
• non-living
• scare the living daylights out of
• within living memory

Related terms

• live, life
• alive

Translations

having life

• Albanian: rron (sq)
• Arabic: حَيّ (ar) m (ḥayy)
• Armenian: կենդանի (hy) (kendani), (colloquial, dialectal) սաղ (hy) (saġ)
• Azerbaijani: diri (az), sağ (az)
• Bashkir: тере (tere)
• Bengali: জীবন্ত (bn) (jibonto), জিন্দা (bn) (jinda)
• Bulgarian: жив (bg) (živ)
• Catalan: viu (ca)
• Esperanto: vivanta (eo)
• Finnish: elävä (fi), elollinen (fi)
• French: vivant (fr)
• Galician: vivo (gl)
• German: lebend (de)
• Greek: ζωντανός (el) (zontanós), έμβιος (el) (émvios)

  Ancient: ζωός (zōós)

• Hebrew: חי (he) (khay)
• Hindi: जीवित (hi) (jīvit), ज़िंदा (zindā), जीवी (hi) (jīvī)
• Icelandic: lifandi (is)
• Kabuverdianu: bibu, vive
• Korean: 산 (ko) (san), 살아 있는 (ko) (sara inneun)
• Latin: animalis (la), vivus (la)
• Maori: kaiao
• Marathi: जिवंत (jivanta), सजीव (sajīv)
• Polish: żywy (pl)
• Portuguese: vivo (pt), vivente (pt)
• Rapa Nui: aringa
• Romanian: viu (ro) m, vie (ro) f
• Russian: живо́й (ru) (živój), живу́щий (ru) (živúščij)
• Sanskrit: आयु (sa) (āyu)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: живети, живјети

  Roman: živeti (sh), živjeti (sh)

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: žywy

• Swedish: levande (sv)
• Tocharian B: śāmane
• Ukrainian: живи́й (žyvýj)

in use or existing

• Albanian: ka (sq)
• Bulgarian: жив (bg) (živ)
• Finnish: elävä (fi)
• Galician: vivo (gl) m
• German: lebend (de), existent (de)
• Greek: ζωντανός (el) (zontanós)
• Hebrew: קַיָּם (he) m
• Korean: 현존하는 (hyeonjonhaneun), 현존의 (hyeonjonui), 현대의 (ko) (hyeondae'ui)
• Polish: żywy (pl)
• Portuguese: vivo (pt)
• Russian: живу́щий (ru) (živúščij), живо́й (ru) (živój)
• Serbo-Croatian: živuća
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: žywy

• Swedish: levande (sv)

of everyday life

• Finnish: (in compounds) elin- (fi)
• German: Lebens-
• Korean: 생활의 (ko) (saenghwarui), 거주의 (geojuui)
• Mandarin: 生活 (zh) (shēnghuó)
• Russian: жи́зненный (ru) (žíznennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: živući

true to life

• Albanian: përjetuar (sq)
• Bashkir: тормошсан (tormoşsan)
• Finnish: elävä (fi)
• German: lebensecht (de)
• Korean: 실물 그대로의 (ko) (silmul geudaeroui), 생생한 (ko) (saengsaenghan)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жива

  Roman: živa (sh)

• Swedish: levande (sv)

used as an intensifier

• Korean: 정말 (ko) (jeongmal), 정말로 (ko) (jeongmallo), 진짜 (ko) (jinjja), 진짜로 (jinjjaro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} vive, ^{(please verify)} vivente
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} viu (ro)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} vivo (es), ^{(please verify)} viviente (es)

Noun

living (countable and uncountable, plural livings)

1. (uncountable) The state of being alive.
2. Financial means; a means of maintaining life; livelihood

   it's a living

   What do you do for a living?

   • 1983 December 10, Jolanta Benal, “The Second Revolution”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 21, page 14:

     Career opportunity […] is the one who never knocks — especially not on the doors of women, who are still hooking, housewifing and hairdressing for their livings.

3. A style of life.

   plain living

   The National Brewing Company declared that the Chesapeake Bay region was the Land of Pleasant Living.

4. (with "the") Those who are alive: living people.

   Synonym: (archaic) quick

   Antonyms: dead; (polite) deceased, departed

   in the land of the living

   Glad to see you're still among the living! [good-humored greeting]

   Some say that the spirits of the departed walk among the living, though most of us do not see them.

5. (canon law) A position in a church (usually the Church of England) that has attached to it a source of income; an ecclesiastical benefice.
   • 1616, Henry Spelman, De Non Temerandis Ecclesijs [Churches Not to Be Violated]. A Tract of the Rights and Respect Due unto Churches. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Iohn Beale, →OCLC, pages 2–3:

     A Rectory or Parſonage, is a Spirituall liuing, compoſed of Land, Tythe, and other Oblations of the people, ſeparate or dedicate to God in any Congregation, for the ſeruice of his Church there, and for the maintenance of the Gouernour or Miniſter thereof, to vvhoſe charge the ſame is committed.

   • 2015, GR Evans, Edward Hicks: Pacifist Bishop at War:

     The patron of the living who had the right to nominate a particular priest might make the choice, but the living was actually granted by the local bishop.

Derived terms

• assisted living
• cost of living
• earn a living
• it takes a heap of living to make a house a home
• it takes a lot of living to make a house a home
• land of the living
• living chamber
• living conditions
• living history
• living quarters
• living standard
• living wage
• make a living
• scratch a living
• simple living
• sober living house
• standard of living
• the world owes one a living

Translations

state of being alive

• Azerbaijani: yaşayış, həyat (az)
• Bulgarian: живе́ене n (živéene)
• Esperanto: vivado (eo)
• Finnish: elo (fi), eläminen (fi), elämä (fi)
• German: Lebende f, Lebender m
• Greek: ζωή (el) f (zoḯ)
• Korean: 생존(生存) (ko) (saengjon), 살아 있음 (ko) (sara isseum)
• Navajo: iiná
• Polish: życie (pl)
• Russian: жизнь (ru) f (žiznʹ)
• Swedish: liv (sv) n

financial means; a means of maintaining life

• Arabic: مَعِيشَة f (maʕīša), مَعَاش m (maʕāš)
• Bulgarian: прехра́на (bg) f (prehrána), препита́ние (bg) n (prepitánie), средства за преживя́ване n pl (sredstva za preživjávane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生計 / 生计 (zh) (shēngjì), 飯碗 / 饭碗 (zh) (fànwǎn) (lit.: "rice bowl")

• Finnish: (in compounds) ansio-, työ (fi), elinkeino (fi), elanto (fi)
• German: Lebensunterhalt (de) m
• Greek: επιούσιος (el) m (epioúsios)
• Hebrew: מִחְיָה (he) f (miẖyá)
• Japanese: 生計 (ja) (せいけい, seikei)
• Korean: 생계(生計) (saenggye)
• Latin: victus (la) m
• Northern Sami: ealáhus
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: levebrød (no) n

  Nynorsk: levebrød n

• Polish: życie (pl), utrzymanie (pl) n, źródło utrzymania n, środki do życia m pl
• Russian: сре́дства к существова́нию n pl (srédstva k suščestvovániju), пропита́ние (ru) n (propitánije), жизнь (ru) f (žiznʹ)
• Spanish: ganarse la vida (es), trabajo (es) m
• Yiddish: פּרנסה f (parnose)

style of life

• Arabic: حَيَاة (ar) f (ḥayāh), طَرِيقَة فِي حَيَاة f (ṭarīqa fī ḥayāh), نَمَط حَيَاة m (namaṭ ḥayāh)
• Azerbaijani: yaşayış, həyat (az), yaşayış tərzi
• Bulgarian: на́чин на живо́т m (náčin na živót)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生活方式 (zh) (shēnghuó fāngshì), 生態 / 生态 (zh) (shēngtài), 方式 (zh) (fāngshì), 生活 (zh) (shēnghuó)

• Finnish: elämä (fi), elintapa (fi), elo (fi), elämäntapa (fi)
• French: mode de vie (fr) f, vie (fr) f
• German: Leben (de) n, Lebensumstände (de) f, Lebensweise (de) f, Lebensstil (de) m
• Japanese: 生活様式 (せいかつようしき, seikatsu yōshiki), 暮らし (ja) (くらし, kurashi), 生活 (ja) (せいかつ, seikatsu)
• Korean: 생활방식(生活方式) (saenghwalbangsik), 생활양식(生活樣式) (ko) (saenghwaryangsik)
• Polish: życie (pl)
• Russian: о́браз жи́зни (ru) m (óbraz žízni), стиль жи́зни (ru) m (stilʹ žízni), жизнь (ru) f (žiznʹ)
• Spanish: estilo de vida m
• Tagalog: pamumuhay

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French living or, less plausibly, an independent truncated borrowing from English living room.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪ.vɪŋ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪvɪŋ
• Hyphenation: li‧ving

Noun

living m (plural livings)

1. (Belgium) living room

   Synonyms: huiskamer, woonkamer

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English living (room).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.viŋ/

Noun

living m (plural livings)

1. living room

Further reading

• “living”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of English living room.

Noun

living m

1. living room

   Synonym: soggiorno

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English living-room.

Noun

living n (plural livinguri)

1. living room

Declension

Declension of living

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	living	livingul		livinguri	livingurile
genitive-dative	living	livingului		livinguri	livingurilor
vocative	livingule			livingurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English living (room).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlibin/ [ˈli.β̞ĩn]
• Rhymes: -ibin

Noun

living m (plural livings)

1. (Rioplatense, Chile) living room

   Synonym: sala de estar

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “living”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10