▪ I. living, vbl. n.
(ˈlɪvɪŋ)
[f. live v.1 + -ing1.]
1. a. The action of the vb. live in various senses; the fact of being alive; the fact of dwelling in a specified place; † the faculty or function of life; course of life; † continuance in life.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter lxii. 4 Þy mercy is better vp lybbeinges. c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 25 For wysely and discretely thei departed hir levynge in two. ― Pr. Consc. 4130 Ful synful sal be his bygynnyng, And wonderful sal be his lyvyng. And his endying sal be sodayn. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 152 Sume of lyfinge mad na forse. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxix. 363 (Add. MS.) [For] the fyrste woman he gafe to the soule weyng [? read beyng] and leuyng with trees; for the second he gafe felyng with bestes [etc.]. c 1520 Gresham in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 236 God.. send your Grace goode helthe and long leyffven. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 127 This long living is the true cause of their propagation. 1631 E. Jorden Nat. Bathes ii. (1669) 14 There is no living for any creature, where there is no water. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. v. (1840) 96 There would be no living for me in a cave. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. vii. (Rtldg.) 27 He was..so jealous, that there was no living for vexation at his un⁓founded surmises. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 20 As if living in the country would save them from attending to any of the laws of health. 1897 Daily News 15 Nov. 5/4 This [campaigning] is ‘living’, anyhow, in a sense in which garrison life is not. |
† b. Duration of life; lifetime.
Obs.| [1340 Ayenb. 73 Voryet þi body ones a day guo in-to helle ine þine libbinde þet þou ne guo ine þine steruinge.] c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 188 Sheo ne graunted him in hir lyvynge No grace. c 1450 Lonelich Grail liii. 263, I schal preyen be my levynge [F. en mon vivant], that I..In that same Abbeye I-beryed to be. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 1076 Than war I woundir vnwis, To purchese proffit for pris, Quhare schame ay euer lyis, All my leuing. c 1475 Partenay 488 That neuer, dais of your leuing,..Ye shall not enquere of me the saturday. 1597 Shakes. Lover's Compl. 238 She..did thence remoue, To spend her liuing in eternall loue. |
c. The action of passing or conducting one's life in a particular manner, whether with reference to moral considerations or to food and physical conditions;
† manner of life.
† Also, a particular (monastic) rule of life.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 205 He þat right ordir of lyfyng wil luke Suld bygyn þus. a 1400 Cursor M. 28943 (Cott. Galba) Þam þat has bene haueand, hend, of lifing clene. a 1450 Myrc 22 For luytel ys worthy þy prechynge, Ȝef thow be of euyle lyuynge. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3690 Demys ȝow na better in ȝour doyng Þan othir of þe same leuyng. 1485 Act 1 Hen. VII, c. 4 Priests..openly reported of incontinent living in their Bodies. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2474 He forsoke this worlde and chaunged his lyuynge. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 53 Dissolute lyuynge, licentious talke, and such other vicious behauours. 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 15 We..haue almost minde at no time to repent and amend our liuings. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. 63 Whereas all those in Egypt, though pain⁓full in their livings, were healthfull in their lives. 1689 W. Sherlock Death iii. §4 (1731) 114 There is a Living a-pace, as some call it; not to lengthen, but to shorten Life. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 78 Our Living now is very hard. 1802 Wordsw. ‘O Friend! I know not’, Plain living and high thinking are no more. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. i. §36 (1875) 129 Under Socrates..Philosophy became little else than the doctrine of right living. 1874 Helps Soc. Press. ii. 23 There are huge improvements to be made..in the first requisites for decorous and beautiful living. |
d. living-in,
living-out: the practice of residing in or out of an employer's premises. Also
attrib.,
living-in or -out system.
| 1896 C. Booth Life & Labour Lond. VII. 505 Index, ‘Living-in’ system. 1899 Daily News 22 June 9/5 The iniquities of the living-in system. 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. 1955 M. Laski Apologies 59 I'd never have living-in servants again. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xi. 71 Murray decided that this was a good time to ask about his living out allowance. 1970 ‘J. Bell’ Hydra with Six Heads vii. 76 There was a living-in cook. 1974 ‘P. B. Yuill’ Bornless Keeper viii. 71 Check with Exeter [Gaol] he isn't on their wonderful living-out rehabilitation scheme. |
2. The action, process, or method of gaining one's livelihood.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 152 To..fynd to them some honest lyvyngs. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 55 ¶1 Most of the Trades, Professions, and Ways of Living among man⁓kind. 1890 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. 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. |
3. a. The means of living; livelihood, maintenance, support;
† also, an income, an endowment. Now chiefly in
to earn,
get,
make a living.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 976 (Kölbing) A cabel..Forto drawen vp al þing, Þat nede was to her libbeing. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 122 Þat matydiane worthit ga to gat lyfing to þame twa. 1450 in Exch. Rolls Scotl. V. 425 note, We have..gevin till oure loved Patrik Lyndesay five markes..till his living yerly. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 897 Rycht wichtly wan his lewyng in to wer. 1496 Act 12 Hen. VII, c. 6 Woollen Cloth..by making whereof..the poor People have most universally their Living. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 250 Gawine Dounbar..biggit ane brig ouir Dee,..and foundit ane yeirly leving, to sustene the same. 1550 Crowley Last Trumpet 493 If thou have any lyveyng So that thou nede not to laboure; Se thou apply the to learnynge. 1611 Bible Mark xii. 44 She..did cast in all that she had, euen all her liuing. 1632 Quarles Div. Fancies iii. lxxxii. (1660) 134 Instead of giving Encrease to her revenues, make a living Upon her ruins. 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6306/3 Sometimes plays on the Violin for a living. 1764 Burn Poor Laws 150 No person will have need to beg or steal; because he may gain his living better by working. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life iii. (1861) 52 Society is barbarous, until every industrious man can get his living without dishonest customs. 1868 Helps Realmah xvii. (1876) 472 He cannot make a living out of it, if [etc.]. 1883 Sir J. Bacon in Law Times Rep. 1 Mar. (1884) 9/2 The son..earns his living as a licensed victualler. |
b. † Also in narrower sense: Food;
pl. Victuals (
obs.).
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xx. (Blasius) 39 Quhare vthyre lyfynge had he nocht bot as þe foulis til hym brocht. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xlv. 620 A brid that browhte me my lyveng. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ccii. [cxcviii.] 623 The see was closed fro them on all partes, wherby their lyuenges [F. viures] and marchaundises myght nat entre into their countreys. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 516 There is scarse any food whereof they do not eat, as also no place wherein they pick not out some living. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 20 Our living consists very mainly of wild ducks. |
† 4. a. Property in general,
esp. landed estate;
pl. estates, possessions. Phr.
man of living.
Obs.| c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2280, I haue lost my living A hundreth pound it was worth wele. 1465 in Exch. Rolls Scotl. VII. 321 note, Cuthbert Colevile..has left his leving and gudis in the said realme. 1566 R. Ascham Let. to Leicester 14 Apr., My lease..the whole and only liveing that I have to leave to my wife and children. 1580 Hay Demandes in Cath. Tractates (1901) 61 Except onlie the pattimonie and leaving of the kirk. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. i. vi. (1588) 34 That none be now placed in the Commission, whose Leuings be not answerable to the same proportion. 1588 A. Marten Exhort. Faithf. Subjects D 2 There be many more great houses alredy, then there be men of liuing able to vphold. 1597 Bacon Coulers Gd. & Evill Ess. (Arb.) 144 Men whose liuing lieth together in one Shire. 1603 Owen Pembrokesh. (1891) 21 Maintaineinge himselfe upon his owne lyveinges verye noblye. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xi. (1810) 351 Hee presented unto him all the men of living and quality in the Province. c 1672 Roxb. Ballads (1886) VI. 261 My Lands and Livings are but small, For to maintain my Love withal. 1716 B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1867) II. 101 Not far from Penobscot, where the main body of our Enemies living was. 1813 Scott Rokeby i. xxi, Thy kinsman's lands and livings fair. |
† b. A holding (of land), a tenement.
Obs.| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 28, I would not haue them [parkes] to be made of poore mens liuings. 1605–47 Habington Surv. Worcestersh. in Worc. Hist. Soc. Proc. i. 139 Thys lord..did fyrst sell to many of the Tenants heere the inheritance of theyre lyvinges. 1617 N. Riding Rec. II. 159 J. D. presented for refusing to pay his sessment..of that living on which he now dwelleth. 1819 Scott Noble Moringer iv, There's many a valiant gentleman of me holds living fair. |
5. Eccl. A benefice. More fully
ecclesiastical, spiritual living.
| 1426 Audelay Poems 40 A mon to have iiij. benefyse, anoder no lyvyng, This is not Godys wyl. c 1550 Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893) 138 What reason is it that one man should haue ij mens livinges and ij mens charge? 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 3/2 For the holding and reteining of all other spiritual livings whatsoever. 1577 Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 110 When a man is to be preferred to an ecclesiastical living. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 28 They have two or three Livings apiece. 1680 C'tess Manchester in Hatton Corr. (1878) 217 He haveing a great many very good liveings in his gifft. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T., 1 Pet. v. 3 To take a living only to get a living, is an horrid impiety. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts x. (1739) 602 Any Person presented to any..Living Ecclesiastical. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. xxvii, My father..was possessed of a small living in the Church. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xvi. (1813) 69 The late Mr. Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best living in his gift. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 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. |
† 6. A term in the game of Maw.
Obs.| c 1570 Groome-porters lawes at Mawe in Coll. Black-Let. Ball. & Broadsides (1867) 124 If you turne vp the ace of hartes, and thereby make either partie aboue xxvj, 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. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive, as (sense 1 with reference to dwelling)
living-dining room,
living-house,
living-place,
living-wagon.
b. objective, as (sense 3)
living † -giver,
† living-griper; (sense 5)
living-broker;
living-seeking adj.;
living area = living space (
c);
† living-days, days of life;
living floor Archæol., the site of a prehistoric camp indicated by bones, tools, etc., found there;
living space, (
a)
tr. lebensraum; (
b) space for accommodation; (
c) a habitable area in a room or house;
living standard [
cf. standard n. 12 a], the level of consumption in terms of food, accommodation, clothing, services, etc., estimated for a person, group, or nation;
living wage, a wage on which it is possible for a worker to live; similarly
living price.
| 1962 Listener 18 Jan. 135/1 A new house..which I recently visited is centred on a large *living area. 1965 in P. Jennings Living Village (1968) 103 The garages are built at road level, and the living areas of the houses are built over the garages. 1969 K. Giles Death cracks Bottle vii. 74 The inglenook which the architect had fashioned in the living area. |
| 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? |
| c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 237 Oure *leuynge dayes..arn at an ende. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. v. (Percy Soc.) 22 Whose goodly name..Was called Carmentis in her livyng dayes. |
| 1933 Archit. Rev. LXXIV. 20 The exhibit is part of a projected structural unit which includes an entrance hall and kitchen in addition to the *living-dining room. 1945 Nelson & 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. |
| 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. 1947 L. S. B. Leakey in E. Afr. Ann. 1946–7 69/1 On the ancient land surfaces were uncovered the actual ‘living floors’ or camp sites of ancient Acheulean hunters. 1965 Hole & Heizer Introd. Prehist. Archeol. iii. 35 The amount of bone and stone tools suggests seasonal, or perhaps permanent year-round camps. In Africa these are called ‘living floors’. |
| 1614 R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearl iii. E 2, Is thy *liuing-giuer within, sir? Ser. You meane my master, sir? |
| 1600 Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood ii. 51 A Gentle⁓man perhaps may chaunce to meete His *Liuing-griper face to face in streete. |
| 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 624 There are near to the *living-house large, well-built houses with the proper machinery for drying the cocoa. |
| 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 124 The cloister was really the *living-place of the monks. |
| 1834 Congress. Globe 3 May 362/2 Mr. Forsyth said that..70 to 76 cents was a very *living price for fish oil. 1892 Nation (N.Y.) 3 Mar. 168/2 Mr. C. would be glad to be enabled to do, at a living price, a series of prints. |
| 1898 Daily News 31 May 6/6 The Premier had much dislike for *living-seeking parsons. |
| 1939 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 127 The Swiss..may rob them of their *living-space. 1944 F. Clune Red Heart 20 The Australian native..can make a ‘living-space’ in a country where white people can't. 1959 Listener 10 Dec. 1032/1 The 5,000 or so species of pest insects are man's most dangerous competitors for food and living space on this planet. Ibid. 17 Dec. 1071/1 The bed-sitting-room was divided by curtains into three living-spaces. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. IV. 338/2 Hitler's next objective was to sweep Czechoslovakia out of the road to ‘living space’ in the east. 1961 L. D. Stamp Gloss. Geogr. Terms 296/2 Living space, an English translation of the German Lebensraum but most authors prefer to use the German word when discussing its geo⁓political implications. 1961 Listener 28 Dec. 1110/1 Architects will be able to plan, on the ground floor, one, two, or three living spaces—for example, a kitchen partially opening into a dining-room, with a separate living-room. 1966 Ibid. 19 May 729/3 The average living space per person in Moscow is officially admitted to be eight square metres. 1972 M. Jones Life on Dole i. 15 There might have been a couple of lodgers, unmarried men..whose living space was a cot in the corner. |
| 1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound vi. 121 The aim of the Government was to raise *living-standards to those of the Europeans. 1964 Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 690/1 The concept of living standards, or levels, would include and perhaps emphasize, ‘material’ quantitative elements such as the consumption of goods and services. 1968 Listener 10 Oct. 469/3 This was the chief reason..why..Western achievements and Western living standards were so consistently lied about. 1974 Times 16 Jan. 13/2 Improving personal living standards. |
| 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. 1893 Ch. Times 6 Oct. 995/2 As firm..as are the miners in standing out for what they call a ‘living’ wage. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 10/1 Sir Andrew Clarke..used for the first time the phrase ‘the living wage’..in 1892. 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 {pstlg}20. 1974 Guardian 31 Jan. 13/8 Another miner..sounds bitter... ‘We are broken down old men; we're limping and we are injured. And all we want is a living wage.’ |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 329 He termed it, as all showmen do—the *living wagon. |
Hence
ˈlivingless a., without a living.
| 1878 L. Wingfield Lady Grizel I. viii. 136 They were enjoined to roam..with a livingless parson as a mentor. |
▪ II. living, ppl. a. (
ˈlɪvɪŋ)
[f. live v. + -ing2.] 1. Predicatively, or
attrib. following the
n.: Alive, or when alive.
† Also in the absolute construction,
living ―,
= ‘in the lifetime of ―’.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter liv. [lv.] 16 Astiᵹen hie in helle lifᵹende. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. viii. (Schipper) 29 Constantius..be Diocletiane lyfᵹendum Gallia rice..heold. a 1300 Cursor M. 4847 Elleuen breþer es we liuand. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 547 The wiffis had him till his cuntre, Quhar wes na man leiffand bot he. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xx. 459 Ye shall se me well certan, and lyfand shall I be. 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdras xii. 33 He shal sett them lyuynge before the iudgment. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxviii. 60 Thou hes left leifand bot few in that land. c 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 267 Living his mother Alexandra, he had been with the High Priesthood nine yeares. 1771 Junius Lett. xlix. 254 As long as there is one man living who thinks you worthy of his confidence. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 357 Where a testator..gives to his four children then living. 1830 R. B. Peake Crt. & City i. ii, You are the only man living that can serve my brother! |
2. attrib. That lives or has life.
a. said of the Deity (after Biblical use).
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxviii. (Schipper) 523 Ealle..hine þurh þone lifiᵹendan Dryhten halsedon. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xli. 2 My soule is a thurste for God, yee euen for the lyuynge God. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. vii. 231 The Leuing Lord bring thame to this gude end! 1732 Berkeley Serm. to S.P.G. Wks. III. 240 The church of the living God. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. liv, By the living Lord it flashed upon me..that she had done it. |
b. of human beings, animals, and plants, or their parts. In
mod. use sometimes used for ‘now (or at the time spoken of) existing or living’, ‘contemporary’.
living fossil: a plant or animal that has survived the extinction of others of its group.
† living stock = live stock.
living skeleton: an individual with an extremely emaciated frame.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1529 Þæt ne mei hit..strengðe..of na liuiende mon leowsin. a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 193 Ne non liuiinde þing woc þer nis ne ȝeomer. a 1300 Cursor M. 1689 Þou sal tak tuin Of ilk liuand best. 1340–70 Alisaunder 790 A libbing lud lay in hur armes. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 64 Libbinde Laborers þat libben bi heore hondes. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints v. (Johannes) 577 Þar wes na liffand man þat mycht se hym for þat mekil lycht. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 59 Oþer many euelys comyn, þurgh whilk many leuand creatures ar perschyd. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. Prol. 112 Saw neuer man so faynt a leuand wicht. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 43 Th' Earth..is called..the norishe of lyving creatures,..the sepulchre of the dead. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 116 All leuing man in to this warld sa round Sall loue thy name. 1611 Bible Gen. vi. 19. 1690 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 37 Destroying the living stock. 1736 Butler Anal. i. i. 41 The supposed likeness which is observed between the decay of vegetables and of living creatures. 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 115 That he preferred a dead carcase to his living children. 1825 Ann. Reg. (1826) LXVII. 239*/1 The name of the Living Skeleton is C. A. Seurat. 1841–71 R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 733 The Crocodile..likewise kills living prey. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. II. 457 He was generally esteemed the greatest living master of the art of war. 1859 Ruskin Two Paths ii. (1891) 82 He went to Rome and ordered various works of living artists. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 197 After this we encountered no living thing. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 1 The living succulent parts of plants. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 81 A fresh supply of air is constantly required by a living animal. 1935 C. J. Chamberlain Gymnosperms iv. 61 The cycads of today may well be called ‘living fossils’. 1953 J. S. Huxley Evolution in Action v. 127 There is the persistence of a few survivors from a once-abundant group—so-called ‘living fossils’, like the duckbill platypus; and that of a whole successful group. 1955 Sci. Amer. Apr. 108/2 A living fossil is defined as an organism that has survived beyond its era. A standard example is the tuatara of New Zealand, which looks like a lizard but is in fact the ‘sole survivor of an order of reptiles which flourished in the great Age of Reptiles and is now extinct except for this one species’. 1966 C. A. W. Guggisberg S.O.S. Rhino ii. 31 The two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros..has come to us practically unchanged from the Tertiary Age, another ‘living fossil’. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VI. 276/3 Living fossil, an organism long believed extinct that is discovered to be still in existence. |
c. absol. the living: those who are alive.
the land of the living: see
Ps. xxvii. 13, lii. 5; Isaiah xxxviii. 11, liii. 8. See also
land n. 3 c.
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns iii. 3 Ic ne ᵹesio dryhten god in eorðan lifᵹendra. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 223 Hi is aelra libbinde moder. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 699 For non lyuyande to þe is Iustyfyet. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 954 Lord..thow life lent to levand in leid. 1535 Coverdale Eccl. vi. 8 What helpeth it the poore, that he knoweth to walke before the lyuynge? 1611 Bible Ruth ii. 20 He..hath not left off his kindnesse to the liuing and to the dead. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) Ded., Your Generosity..takes all occasions of exerting it self towards the Living. 1708 Lady Cave Let. in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. (1930) I. xiv. 266 Sir Thomas is glad to hear Col. Oughton is in the land of the living..having not heard a word from him. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. xxxvii. 242 I'm glad to see you still in the land of the living. 1793 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 185 The true way to mourn the dead, is to take care of the living who belong to them. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1359 If one may judge the living by the dead. 1925 E. Phillpotts Voice from Dark ii. 22 And is Mr. Bitton still in the land of the living? 1964 Roman Breviary 346 P, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. |
d. transf. (
a) In various phrases of biblical origin. Of water: Constantly flowing; also, refreshing. (
b) Of coals: Burning, flaming.
Cf. live a. 3. (
c) Of rock, stone: Native; in its native condition and site, as part of the earth's crust.
Cf. lively a. 1 b.
| 1388 Wyclif John vi. 51 Y am lyuynge breed, that cam doun fro heuene. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 29 The Welle of Gardyns and the Dyche of lyvynge Waters. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour lxxxvii. L j b, [He] made..to..come out of the stone lyuyng and swete water. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 16 Christis blude..is ane leuand well Celestiall. 1697 Dryden Virg. æneid i. 78 In a spacious cave of living stone. Ibid. viii. 547 And living Embers on the Hearth they spred. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 64/1 A high bold shore of living craggy Rock. 1735 Somerville Chase i. 59 What remains On living Coals they broil. 1821 J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Wallace xxxviii, His soldiers firm as living rock. 1837 Youatt Sheep xi. 452 He got another pond of living water, and sustained in that season no loss to his flock. 1843 Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. II. i. xiv. 45 The fish ponds..were fed by a living stream. 1893 Budge Mummy 14 The Sphinx is hewn out of the living rock. |
e. Of a language: Still in vernacular use. (
Cf. dead language s.v. language 1.)
| 1706 A. Bedford Temple Mus. ii. 45 The Hebrew ceasing to be a Living Language. 1749 Numbers in Poet. Comp. 12 Not only in English but French, and..every living Language in Europe. 1807 Crabbe Library 66 Here all the living languages abound. 1845 [see language 1]. |
f. fig. in various uses.
living corpse;
living dead: as
adj. phr., having lost hold of life, not using one's life abundantly; as
n. phr., such people.
living death: a state of misery not deserving the name of life.
living pledge (see
quot. 1767).
| 1388 Wyclif 1 Pet. i. 3 The fadir of oure Lord Ihesu Crist..bigat vs aȝen in to lyuynge [1382 quik] hope by the aȝen risyng of Ihesu Crist. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. xlvi. 261 So Constantines glorious life drew to an end, though his liuing-glory shall be endlesse. 1671 Milton Samson 100 To live a life half-dead, a living death, and buried. 1738 Wesley Psalms li. xx, Their every Thought, and Word, and Deed, That from a living Faith proceed. 1750 Gray Elegy 48 Or wak'd to Extacy the living Lyre. 1767 Blackstone Comm. 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. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia i. 5 Each man had..living trust in the continual care of Almighty God. 1860 J. W. Palmer tr. Michelet's Love iv. viii. 243 It may be said that she came out of the asylum a living corpse, and it was not long before she died in reality. 1863 O. W. Holmes Old Vol. Life iii. (1891) 78 It is the living question of the hour, and not the dead story of the past, which forces itself into all minds. 1869 Seeley Lect. & Ess. (1870) 77 Not that there is anything in a living Christianity incompatible with liberty. 1871 Farrar Witn. Hist. ii. 65 The idea..was created solely by the living fact. 1917 R. Graves Fairies & Fusiliers 28 You'll find me buried, living-dead In these verses that you've read. a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 168, I know the unliving factory-hand, living-dead millions Is unliving me, living-dead me, I, with them, am living dead. 1958 Listener 14 Aug. 225/2 What they thought of ‘squares’, and the living dead in general. |
3. Of or pertaining to a living person or what is living.
living chess: a game of chess in which living persons act as the chessmen;
† living-fence: a fence formed of living wood,
esp. hawthorn;
living force = vis viva s.v. vis n.2 2 c;
within living memory: in the recollection of persons still alive;
living newspaper (see
quot. 1966);
living theatre: the theatre, as opposed to the cinema.
| 1676 Glanvill Ess. iii. 6 Death having overcome that Envy which dog's living Virtue to the Grave. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 357 For a living-fence, I met with none so..serviceal as those, made by the planching of Quicksets. 1836 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) III. xxiii. 351 It is as if a living hand were to touch cold iron. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. III. 438 There had within living memory been no equally serious encounter between the English and French. 1864 Lond. Rev. 27 Aug. 247/2 Psychonomy..illustrated by tracings from living hands. 1876 Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. (1885) 360 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. 1877 W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 341 The newly-invented study of living history is the chief joy of so many of our lives. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 1 No ecclesiastic within living memory..has enjoyed a larger share of personal celebrity. 1905 Lasker's Chess Mag. II. iii. 131 So that the reader may visualize the phases through which the game has passed we will show two historical cameos of living chess. 1929 Brit. Chess Mag. LXIX. 126 A picturesque display of living chess was given by the schoolboys. 1935 N.Y. Times 31 Dec. 10/1 Elmer Rice, regional director, announced that..the Biltmore will open before the end of January with the first topical production of the unit known as the ‘Living Newspaper’. The initial show..will offer in graphic terms the background of the Italo-Ethiopian war. 1938 Times 28 Dec. 11/3 The ‘living’ theatre, as it has come to be called in distinction from the cinema, must be in a very healthy condition. 1940 Ann. Reg. 1939 40 The Chancellor made the entertainment tax lighter for the ‘living theatre’. 1941 J. S. Huxley in Fortnightly July 11 The theatre project indeed began to create new types of popular drama like the Living Newspaper, which undoubtedly stimulated social self-consciousness. 1963 Guardian 12 Mar. 2/6 It was deplorable that Plymouth had no living theatre. 1966 J. R. Taylor Penguin Dict. Theatre 159 Living newspaper, a sort of topical documentary revue in a series of short scenes based on current social and political problems, devised in the 1930s in the U.S.A. by the Federal Theatre, and used elsewhere for propaganda during the war. 1970 A. Sunnucks Encycl. Chess 291 Living chess. During the past 600 years the game played with living pieces has from time to time been presented in different countries. 1971 J. Willett in A. Bullock 20th Cent. 243/1 The Theater Project..evolved a new form of lecture-cum-sketch in the Living Newspaper. |
4. With prefixed
adv.: That passes life in a specified manner.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 33 Vnkunnynge & euyl leuynge prelatis. 1901 Daily Chron. 19 Oct. 3/1 Richardson..was..a good and virtuous-living man. |
5. = lively a. in senses 4, 5, and 6.
living gale Naut. (see
quot. 1883).
| a 1718 Penn Life Wks. 1726 I. 231 During her Illness she uttered many Living and Weighty Expressions. 1816 Byron Dream ii, A most living landscape. 1844 Stanley 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. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. App. 370 Bold, and rich, and living architecture. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxii. 47 The portrait of William is drawn..in living colours, by the Chronicler. 1883 Clark Russell Sailors' Lang., Living gale, a tremendous gale. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. Pref. 9 Faithfully to commit to paper a living image of the man. |
6. living picture, (
a)
= tableau vivant (
tableau n. 4); (
b) a motion-picture.
| 1875 N.Y. Herald 24 Nov. 2/4 Mr. Matt Morgan's Classical Tableaux of Living Pictures, illustrated by a Corps of Beautiful Ladies. 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 Last winter saw the ‘living pictures’ adopted as the craze of the season for music-halls, bazaars, and variety entertainments generally. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 342/2 [The book] includes also elaborate directions for exhibiting Living Pictures and Tableaux. 1899 H. V. Hopwood Living Pictures vi. 207 The first requirement in the projection, as in the taking, of Living Pictures is absolute rigidity of the apparatus. 1906 J. A. Manson Indoor Games 30 Living Pictures, or Tableaux Vivants, if considered as an indoor game, must be placed on the highest level... It need hardly be said that neither acting nor speech is required in a living picture. 1962 E. Larsen Film Making i. 18 Soon nearly every variety show contained ‘living pictures’ as a programme item. |
Add:
[3.] living will:
orig. 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).
| 1969 L. Kutner in Indiana Law Jrnl. XL. 551 The document indicating..consent may be referred to as ‘a *living will’. 1973 Britannica Bk. of Year (U.S.) 732/2 Living will, a written declaration in which a person requests that if he becomes disabled beyond reasonable expectation of recovery he be allowed to die in dignity rather than be kept alive by artificial means. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 9/1 The ‘living will’, which is available free from the nonprofit Euthanasia Educational Council. 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. 1995 Independent 6 Mar. 3/1 The BMA is opposed to legalising living wills, although the Law Commission wants the position tidied up. |