Outlive

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /aʊtˈlɪv/

Definitions

1. To remain alive longer than someone else or to exist beyond the duration of something else
2. To exist for a longer duration than another person or to persist beyond the lifespan or duration of an entity or event
3. To survive or continue to live beyond the life expectancy of another individual or the time frame of a particular occurrence

Etymology: "Outlive" is about as transparent as English verbs get: it combines "out-" with "live," and the Middle English "outliven" was built the same way. The prefix "out-" here carries the sense of going beyond or surpassing a limit, so to outlive someone is to keep living past the point where they stopped. That same "surpass" sense shows up in older compounds like "outrun" and "outlast," which share its pattern. The more interesting part is how the verb stretches beyond people. Its meaning now covers things that persist past their own time, such as a building that outlasts its builders, a custom that survives its original purpose, or a rumor that outlives the scandal it described. The verb took a word for biological survival and let it describe anything that keeps going after the thing around it has ended.

Synonyms: survive, last longer than, outlast, endure, persist

Antonyms: die before, perish