Outliving

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To continue to exist longer than another person or entity, surpassing their lifespan or presence in a particular place
2. To persist beyond the existence of another, maintaining presence or relevance while they are no longer present
3. Surpassing another in lifespan by continuing to live after they have died

Etymology: "Outliving" is the present participle and gerund of "outlive", which is formed from "out" and "live" and goes back to Middle English "outliven". The pairing is ordinary: "out" in the sense of beyond or surpassing, attached to a verb for living, so that to outlive someone is to live beyond them or past a point they reached. The same pattern gives other English verbs such as "outrun" and "outlast", and it has been productive since the medieval period. The word's meaning rests on a comparison. To outlive something is not simply to live on but to remain alive when something else has ended, whether a person, a rival, or an institution. That relational sense is what the "out" contributes: it measures one existence against another and shows it stretching further.

Synonyms: surviving, lasting, enduring

Antonyms: dying