livelihood
nounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈlaɪvlihʊd//
- United States//ˈlaɪvlihʊd//
- Scotland//ˈlaɪvlɪhʉd//
A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
noun
- 1
A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
an independent livelihood; to make / earn / gain / win a good livelihood by the sweat of one's brow
But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…].
[…] 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.
1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, No. 42, Monday May 14, p. 245, Trade […] employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land, and furnishes the poorest of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honest Livelihood.
- 2
archaicProperty which brings in an income; an estate.
Then ſayde Peter: Ananias how is it that ſatan hath filled thyne hert thatt thou ſhuldeſt lye vnto the holy gooſt and kepe awaye parte off the pryce off the lyvelod[…]?
- 3
obsoleteLiveliness; appearance of life.
[…] the tiranny of her ſorrowes takes all liuelihood from her cheeke.
- 4
obsoleteThe course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour.
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
Etymology
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.
Forms
- plural
- livelihoods
livelihood · A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
lively · Full of life; energetic, vivacious.Lively · A characteristical surname.liver · A large organ in the body that stores and metabolizes…