survive
/sɚˈvaɪv/verb
survive is spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, survive means “Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in survive?
| Letters | 7: S-U-R-V-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is survive?
Survive appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th 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 survive?
- UK /səˈvaɪv/
- UK /səˈvʌɪv/
- US /sɚˈvaɪv/
Survive has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-survive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with survive?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as survive from its last stressed vowel (/aɪv/):
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 survive
- survives present, singular, he/she/it
- surviving participle, present
- survived participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does survive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
Whether by a miracle or by good luck, all twenty passengers survived.
- 2
Of an object or concept, to continue to exist.
This town has been hit by two hurricanes, but it survives.
- 3
To live past (a life-threatening event)
Whether by a miracle or by good luck, all twenty passengers survived the crash.
- 4
To live longer than (someone); to outlive (someone or something); to outlast (something).
his children survived him; he was survived by his children
- 5
To be a victim of nonfatal but substantial harm and nonetheless to display the strength to heal; especially, after a crime or an illness, especially sexual or physical abuse or assault, cancer, or a natural disaster.
I just know you'll get through this, because that's what survivors like you do: they not only survive but thrive.
- 6
Of a team, to avoid relegation or demotion to a lower division or league.
They narrowly survived, but the heat is on.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Survive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense person: continue to live:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | survivre |
| German | überleben |
| Portuguese | sobreviver |
| Spanish | sobrevivir, pervivir, supervivir |
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 survive come from?
From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervīvere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).