# survive

> English word · Verb · IPA /səˈvaɪv/ · frequency rank #2,920

## Definitions
1. Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
2. Of an object or concept, to continue to exist.
3. To live past (a life-threatening event)
4. To live longer than (someone); to outlive (someone or something); to outlast (something).
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.
6. Of a team, to avoid relegation or demotion to a lower division or league.

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervivere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive.

## Easily confused with
- **survivor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/survive-vs-survivor)
- **strive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/strive-vs-survive)
- **service** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/service-vs-survive)
- **surmise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surmise-vs-survive)
- **survival** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/survival-vs-survive)

## Common misspellings (10)
`sruvive`, `ssurvive`, `surivve`, `surrvive`, `surviev`, `survivve`, `survvie`, `survvive`, `suvrive`, `usrvive`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/survive