Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Livelihood
Live′li-hood
,Noun.
[OE.
livelode
, liflode
, prop., course of life, life’s support, maintenance, fr. AS. līf
life + lād
road, way, maintenance. Confused with livelihood
liveliness. See Life
, and Lode
.] Subsistence or living, as dependent on some means of support; the means for support of life; maintenance.
The opportunities of gaining an honest
livelihood
. Addison.
It is their profession and
livelihood
to get their living by practices for which they deserve to forfeit their lives. South.
Live′li-hood
,Noun.
[
Lively
+ -hood
.] Liveliness; appearance of life.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Definition 2024
livelihood
livelihood
English
Alternative forms
Noun
livelihood (countable and uncountable, plural livelihoods)
- (obsolete) The course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour. [10th-17thc.]
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iij, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
- wel said Merlyn I knowe a lord of yours in this land that is a passyng true man & a feithful / & he shal haue the nourysshyng of your child / & his name is sir Ector / & he is a lord of fair lyuelode in many partyes in Englond & walys
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iij, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
- A person's means of supporting themself. [from 14thc.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.4:
- But now, when Philtra saw my lands decay / And former livelod fayle, she left me quight […].
- Addison
- the opportunities of gaining an honest livelihood
- South
- It is their profession and livelihood to get their living by practices for which they deserve to forfeit their lives.
- 2013, Matthew Claughton, The Guardian, (letter), 25 April:
- The legal profession believes that client choice is the best way of ensuring standards remain high, because a lawyer's livelihood depends upon their reputation.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.4:
- (now rare) Property which brings in an income; an estate. [from 15thc.]
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts V:
- Then sayde Peter: Ananias how is it that satan hath fillen thyne hert, thatt thou shuldest lye unto the holy goost, and kepe awaye parte off the pryce off thy lyvelod […]?
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts V:
- (obsolete) Liveliness; appearance of life.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
Synonyms
Translations
means of supporting oneself
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