Livelihood Meaning
/ˈlaɪvlihʊd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
nounProperty which brings in an income; an estate.
Sentence Examples
How is livelihood in America these day?
The two felt the pressing necessity of earning a livelihood.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many fishermen depend on the sea for their ____ because they sell their daily catch.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many people in the coastal village depend on fishing for their ____ and their primary source of income.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English liflode, from Old English līflād (“course of life, conduct”), from līf (“life”) + lād (“course, journey”), later altered under the influence of lively, -hood. Compare life, lode.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay,
And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…]."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 226:
"[…] a Man may as easily know where to find one, to teach him to Debauch, Whore, Game, and Blaspheme, as to teach him to Write, or Cast Accompt: ’Tis their Support, and Business; nay, their very Profession, and Livelihood; getting their Living by those Practices, for which they deserve to forfeit their Lives."
— 1692–1717, Robert South, “Sermon 2”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London, page 293:
"And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child."
— 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, chapter 1, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:
"[The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close their stores and turn their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God."
— 1967, Chaim Potok, chapter 1, in The Chosen, New York: Fawcett Crest, published 1982, page 10:
"Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles. The cockle-women jog out over the marshes at low tide, riding on flat, horse-drawn carts."
— 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 311, about Pen-clawdd:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many fishermen depend on the sea for their ____ because they sell their daily catch.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many people in the coastal village depend on fishing for their ____ and their primary source of income.