Alive

How to spell alive

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce alive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alive mean?

1. adjectiveLiving; having life, or full of energy and activity.

Alive in a sentence

• The rescue team found the hiker still alive after three days.

• The old market square feels alive with music every weekend.

Where does alive come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word alive comes from the Old English phrase on līfe, which literally meant 'in life' or 'in the state of living'. Over time the preposition on weakened to a simple a- prefix and fused onto the noun, a pattern English repeated in words like asleep (on sleep), ashore (on shore), and aboard (on board). The noun līf, meaning 'life' or 'living body', is a native Germanic root with relatives across the old northern languages. By the medieval period on līfe had collapsed into the single adjective we now write as alive, always sitting after the noun or verb rather than before it. The spelling trap is mild but real: the fused a- hides the original two-word phrase, and the silent final e simply marks the long i sound.

How the word is built

• a- (in, on; from Old English on)
• live (life/living; from Old English līf)