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long-lived

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia 0.01 sec.
long-lived  (lônglvd, -lvd, lng-)
adj.
1. Having a long life: a long-lived aunt.
2. Lasting a long time; persistent: a long-lived rumor.
3. Functioning a long time; durable: a long-lived light bulb.

[Middle English long-lifed : long, long; see long1 + life, life; see life + -ed, having; see -ed3.]

long-livedness n.
Word History: Some uncertainty exists as to the correct pronunciation of long-lived. Should one say (lônglvd) or (lônglvd)? The answer depends in part on how one looks at the word. Historically, the first pronunciation is the more accurate. The word was formed in Middle English times as a compound of long and the noun life, plus the suffix -ed. This suffix, though identical in form to the past tense suffix, has a different function: to form adjectives from nouns, as in the words hook-nosed, ruddy-faced, and round-shouldered. (Note that English has no verbs such as "to hook-nose," and "to ruddy-face," that would have formed participial adjectives ending in -ed.) In Middle English, the suffix -ed was always pronounced as a full syllable, so long-lifed (as it was then spelled) had three syllables. The f in the middle, by a rule of earlier English phonology, was voiced between the two vowels to (v); eventually, the spelling became long-lived to reflect the pronunciation. (We see the same alternation in life and lives; in Middle English, lives had two syllables just like -lived.) However, this new spelling introduced an ambiguity; it was no longer clear from the spelling that the word came from the noun life, but rather looked as though it came from the verb live. In this way a second pronunciation, (lônglvd), was introduced.

long-lived
adj
having long life, existence, or currency
long-livedness  n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.long-lived - existing for a long time; "hopes for a durable peace"; "a long-lasting friendship"
long - primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified; "a long life"; "a long boring speech"; "a long time"; "a long friendship"; "a long game"; "long ago"; "an hour long"

long-lived
adjective long-lasting, enduring, full of years, old as Methuselah, longevous long-lived radioactive material
Translations
long-lived [ˈlɒŋˈlɪvd] ADJ [person, species] → longevo, de larga vida; [plant] → duradero; [rumour] → duradero, persistente
women are more long-lived than menlas mujeres son más longevas que los hombres
long-lived [ˈlɒŋˈlɪvd] adjlongevo/a
women are longer-lived or more long-lived than men → le donne vivono più a lungo degli uomini
long-lived [ˈlɒŋˈlɪvd] adjlongevo/a
women are longer-lived or more long-lived than men → le donne vivono più a lungo degli uomini


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But he came of a long-lived family, he had not a single gray hair, no one would have taken him for forty, and he remembered Varenka's saying that it was only in Russia that men of fifty thought themselves old, and that in France a man of fifty considers himself dans la force de l'age, while a man of forty is un jeune homme.
The Elliotts are long-lived, and the Bryants are not.
In this year of grace, 1860, I am close on eighty years of age, and though we have been a long-lived race, the span of life cannot be prolonged beyond reasonable bounds.
 
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