live
/ˈlɪv/verb, adjective, adverb
live is spelled L-I-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 347 times per million words in written English, the 263rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “life vs live” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, live means “To be alive; to have life” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in live?
| Letters | 4: L-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 347 times per million words; the 263rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is live?
Live appears 347 times per million words in written English, the 263rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce live?
- /ˈlɪv/
- [ˈlɪv]
As an adjective (“Having life; that is alive”): /ˈlaɪ̯v/, [ˈlaɪ̯v], /ˈlaːv/.
Live has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-live-verb.ogg, En-us-live-adj.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with live
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with live?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as live.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: evil, veil, vile, vlei.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of live
- lives present, singular, he/she/it
- living participle, present
- lived participle, past
- more live comparative
- most live superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does live mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To be alive; to have life.
He's not expected to live for more than a few months.
- 2
To have permanent residence somewhere, to inhabit, to reside.
I live at 2a Acacia Avenue. At that time I'd been living in a camper for about six months.
- 3
informal(of an object) to have its proper place; to normally be stored.
I washed your gravy boat. Where does it live?
- 4
To survive; to persevere; to continue.
- 5
To endure in memory; to escape oblivion.
Her memory lives in that song.
- 6
To cope.
You'll just have to live with it! I can't live in a world without you.
- 7
To pass life in a specified manner.
It is difficult to live in poverty. And they lived happily ever after.
- 8
To spend, as one's life; to pass; to maintain; to continue in, constantly or habitually.
To live an idle or a useful life.
adjective
- 1
Having life; that is alive.
The post office will not ship live animals.
- 2
Being in existence; actual.
He is a live example of the consequences of excessive drinking.
- 3
Having active properties; being energized.
Because the vaccinia virus is live, it is important to follow care instructions for the vaccination site.
- 4
Operational; in actual use rather than in testing etc.
- 5
Of an object or value: that may potentially be used in the future execution of a program.
- 6
Taken from a living animal.
live feathers
- 7
Imparting power; having motion.
the live spindle of a lathe
- 8
Still in active play.
a live ball
adverb
- 1
Of an event, as it happens; in real time; direct.
The concert was broadcast live by radio.
- 2
Of making a performance or speech, in person.
He'll be appearing live at the auditorium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate live?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of live: LLL.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Live in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vivre , habiter, demeurer , vivant , en direct, en live |
| German | leben , wohnen , lebend , Live- , überleben , scharf |
| Portuguese | viver , morar , vivo , ao vivo , sobreviver, perseverar |
| Spanish | vivir , morar, residir, habitar , vivo , en vivo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does live come from?
From Middle English lefe, lifen, libbe, libben, live, luvien, lyven, from Old English libban, lifian (“to live; be alive”), from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną (“to live”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).