vīvō

vīv-ō

From Proto-Italic *gʷīwō, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti (“to live”). The x and c in vīxī and vīctum were introduced by analogy with other verbs.

Cognate with Old English cwic (“alive”) (English quick), Old Church Slavonic жити (žiti), Ancient Greek βίος (bíos), Sanskrit जीवति (jīvati).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwiː.woː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈviː.vo]

Verb

vīvō (present infinitive vīvere, perfect active vīxī, supine vīctum); third conjugation, impersonal in the passive

1. to live

   Synonym: dēgō

2. to be alive, to survive

   Synonyms: supersum, supervīvō

3. to reside in

   Synonyms: resideō, habitō, obsideō, cōnsīdō, possideō, subsīdō, stabulō, iaceō, incolō, colō, versō

Usage notes

This verb is essentially intransitive, and thus has no passive forms. However, some limited passive use is attested:

• impersonal passive use: “negat Epicurus, jucunde posse vivi, nisi cum virtute vivatur”: "Epicurus says we cannot live pleasantly unless we live virtuously" (Cic. Tusc. 3, 20, 49)
• very rare personal passive use in poetry: “nunc tertia vivitur aetas” (Ov. M. 12, 187)

In later Latin, forms such as vivuntur or vivebantur are attested.