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Origin and history of long-lived

long-lived(adj.)

"having long life," c. 1400, from long (adv.) + past participle of live (v.). Old English had langlife "long-lived."

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to long-lived

live(v.)

Middle English liven, from Old English lifian (Anglian), libban (West Saxon) "to be, be alive, have life; continue in life; to experience," also "to supply oneself with food, procure a means of subsistence; pass life in a specified fashion," from Proto-Germanic *libejanan (source also of Old Norse lifa "to be left; to live; to live on," of fire, "to burn;" Old Frisian libba, German leben, Gothic liban "to live"), from PIE root *leip- "to stick, adhere," forming words meaning "to remain, continue."

Meaning "to make a residence, dwell" is from c. 1200. Meaning "express in one's life" (live a lie) is from 1540s. Intensified sense "have life abundantly, make full use of life's opportunities" is from c. 1600. Related: Lived; living.

To live it up "live gaily and extravagantly" is from 1903. To live up to "act in accordance with, not live below the standard of" is 1690s, from earlier live up "live on a high (moral or mental) level" (1680s). To live (something) down "cause (something disreputable) to be forgotten by subsequent blameless course, live so as to disprove" is from 1842. To live with "cohabit as husband and wife" is attested from 1749; sense of "to put up with" is attested from 1937. Expression live and learn is attested from c. 1620.

According to the Dutch Prouerbe ... Leuen ende laetan leuen, To liue and to let others liue. [Gerard de Malynes, 1622]
long(adv.)

Old English lange, longe "for a length of time, a long time; far, to a great extent in space," from long (adj.). Old English also had langlice (adv.) "for a long time, long, at length." Longly (adv.) is rarely used. No longer "not as formerly" is from c. 1300; to be not long for this world "soon to die" is from 1714.

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    Trends of long-lived

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    durable
    late 14c., "having the quality of continuing long in being," from Old French durable (11c.) and directly from Latin durabilis "lasting, permanent," from durare "to harden," from durus "hard," from PIE *dru-ro-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast." Fro
    macrobiotic
    also macro-biotic, 1797, "tending to prolong life," 1797, from Greek makrobiotikos "long-lived," from makros "long" (from...PIE root *mak- "long, thin") + bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live")....Hence macrobiote "a long-lived person or animal" (1852); macrobiosis "long life, longevity" (1837); macrobiotics "the study...
    ancient
    auncyen, of persons, "very old;" c. 1400, of things, "having lasted from a remote period," from Old French ancien "old, long-standing...From early 15c. as "existing or occurring in times long past."...As a noun, "very old person," late 14c.; "one who lived in former ages," 1530s....
    carbon
    Carbon 14, the long-lived radioactive isotope used in dating organic deposits, is from 1936....
    yew
    The tree symbolizes both death and immortality, being poisonous as well as long-lived....
    Jamesian
    [T]he long sentences piling themselves up in elaborate phrase after phrase, the lightning incision, the pauses, the slightly...I had heard it but seldom, yet it is all unforgettable. […] No man who has not lived on both sides of the Atlantic can well...
    ephemera
    a day," from fem. of ephemerus, from Greek ephemeros "daily, for the day," also "lasting or living only one day, short-lived...Sense extended 17c. to short-lived insects (Modern Latin ephemera musca) and flowers; general sense of "thing of transitory...
    ecumenical
    late 16c., "representing the entire (Christian) world," formed in English as an ecclesiastical word, from Late Latin oecumenicus "general, universal," from Greek oikoumenikos "from the whole world," from he oikoumene ge "the inhabited world (as known to the ancient Greeks); the G
    concierge
    1640s, from French concierge "caretaker, doorkeeper of a hotel, apartment house, prison, etc., porter" (12c.), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *conservius, from Latin conservus "fellow slave," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + servius "slav
    facetious
    "sportive, playful," 1590s, from French facétieux (16c.), from facétie "a joke" (15c.), from Latin facetiae "jests, witticisms" (singular facetia), from facetus "witty, elegant, fine, courteous," which is of unknown origin, perhaps related to facis "torch." Formerly often in a go

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