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.
Word History: Some uncertainty exists as to the correct pronunciation of
long-lived. Should one say (lông
l
vd
) or (lông
l
vd
)? 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, (lông
l
vd
), was introduced.
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long-livedness
