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survival

UK/səˈvaɪ.vəl/US/sɚˈvaɪ.vəl/
nounB2Very common — you will meet it every day · #2,474 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: survivals

Survival is continuing to live through something dangerous. Chance of survival, survival rate, survival of the fittest.

In medicine a five-year survival rate is the standard measure, which is why it appears in every cancer statistic. Survival of the fittest was Herbert Spencer's phrase, not Darwin's, and fittest means best suited to the conditions rather than strongest. Note survive beneath it.

Sgt. Nicolas Cholula · Public domain

Definitions of survival

  1. 1nounsurvivalContinuing to live through something dangerous.B2

    “Without water, their chances of survival in the desert were very small.”

survival is a continuing to live.

Where it comes from

  1. Old French

    survivre

  2. Anglo-Norman

    survivre

  3. Latin

    supervivo

  4. English

    survive

  5. English, today

    survival

Built from

  • vivere · Latin — to live
  • vita · Latin — life

From survive + -al. survive comes from Latin supervivo. From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Latin supervivo (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

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survival in the wild

  • Today, survival skills are often associated with surviving in a disaster situation.

    Survival skills

  • Outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, fishing, and hunting all require basic wilderness survival skills, especially to handle emergencies.

    Survival skills

  • A survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared as an aid to survival in an emergency.

    Survival kit

  • During the Vietnam War, there was clear need for "jungle" survival training and greater public focus on American POWs.

    Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape

  • The survival function is a function that gives the probability that a patient, device, or other object of interest will survive past a certain time.

    Survival function

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the vita family

survivesurvival

survival — used about once every 333 pages · #2,474 · point at the bar for the others