Thriven

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The archaic past participle of a verb meaning to grow strongly, flourish, or prosper over a period of time
2. An old form of the past participle of the verb meaning to flourish, prosper, or grow vigorously
3. Describing something that has grown well or prospered, used as an older past participle of a verb meaning to flourish

Etymology: "Thriven" is an older past participle of "thrive" that survives mostly in archaic or dialect use, while "thrived" has become the standard form. The verb itself has a surprising origin: its Old Norse ancestor "þrífa" meant "to seize" or "grasp" before it meant to flourish. The sense of prospering grew out of the idea of laying hold of something, as if success were a thing you could grab. That Norse word came into Middle English as "thryven" and "thriven," and the English verb kept the Scandinavian base while picking up a broader sense of gaining, succeeding, and growing strong. Its relatives in modern Scandinavia still carry the idea: Swedish "trivas" and Danish "trives" mean to thrive or feel at home, so the same word that once meant seizing now describes things going well.

Synonyms: flourish, prosper, bloom, boom, grow

Antonyms: wither, languish, decline, fail, die