Survival Meaning
/səˈvaɪ.vəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe fact or act of surviving; continued existence or life.
nounOf, relating to or aiding survival.
Sentence Examples
The company is struggling for survival.
I gave up all hope of survival.
Nature provides them with the means of survival.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the harsh desert, finding water is essential for ____ without any nearby oasis.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Finding a source of fresh water is essential for the ____ of explorers in the hot and dry desert today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super- Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti Proto-Italic *gʷīwō Latin vīvō Latin supervīvereder. English survive Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English survival From survive + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"When I am not playing pinball or working at my survival job, I am usually writing."
— 1978 April 15, Pat M. Kuras, “Why's a Nice Dyke Like Me Writing For A Paper Like This?”, in Gay Community News, page 9:
"[…] a team that have turned snatching relegation from the jaws of top-flight survival into an art form […]"
— 2000, Dan Goldstein, The Rough Guide to English Football: A Fans' Handbook 2000-2001:
""Before you know it, you find yourself flirting around the relegation places and the season becomes a battle for survival.""
— 2013, Alan Stubbs, How Football Saved My Life, page 139:
"Thus, if some old rhyme or saying has in one place a solemn import in philosophy or religion, while elsewhere it lies at the level of the nursery, there is some ground for treating the serious version as the more original, and the playful one as its mere lingering survival."
— 1871, Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom^([IA]), Volume 1, chapter 3: "Survival in culture", page 78:
"Another survival of marriage by capture is discovered among the Ceylonese, where it is common at royal marriages for the king and queen to throw perfumed balls and squirt scented water at each other."
— 1894, James William Black, “Savagery and survivals”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 45, page 391:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the harsh desert, finding water is essential for ____ without any nearby oasis.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Finding a source of fresh water is essential for the ____ of explorers in the hot and dry desert today.