Dictionary

livelihood en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈlaɪvlɪhʉd/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
• /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/ (US)
• /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/ (Received-Pronunciation)

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.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
   • And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child. 1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, chapter 1, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC:
   • 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. 2013, Matthew Claughton, The Guardian, (letter), 25 April
   • Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles. The cockle-women jog out over the marshes at low tide, riding on flat, horse-drawn carts. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 311, about Pen-clawdd:
   • But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…]. 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 226:
   • […] 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. 1692–1717, Robert South, “Sermon 2”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London, page 293:
   • an independent livelihood;  to make / earn / gain / win a good livelihood by the sweat of one's brow
   • [The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close their stores and turn their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God. 1967, Chaim Potok, chapter 1, in The Chosen, New York: Fawcett Crest, published 1982, page 10:
   • 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. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Property 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[…]? 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts v:[3], folio clix, verso:
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Liveliness; appearance of life.
   • […] the tiranny of her ſorrowes takes all liuelihood from her cheeke. c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 230, column 2:
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) The 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 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:

Forms

Synonyms

living · subsistence · sustenance

Translations (69)

pl utrzymanie (means of supporting oneself) · mi oranga whakangakau (means of supporting oneself) · nb levebrød (means of supporting oneself) · ru сре́дства к существова́нию (means of supporting oneself) · bg прехра́на (means of supporting oneself) · ru жизнь (means of supporting oneself) · nn utkome (means of supporting oneself) · pt ganha-pão (means of supporting oneself) · de Lebensgrundlage (means of supporting oneself) · nb livsopphold (means of supporting oneself) · de Existenzgrundlage (means of supporting oneself) · he מחיה (means of supporting oneself) · sv försörjning (means of supporting oneself) · ar مَعِيشَة (means of supporting oneself) · got 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌶𐌽𐍃 (means of supporting oneself) · bg средства за преживя́ване (means of supporting oneself) · yi פּרנסה (means of supporting oneself) · es medio de subsistencia (means of supporting oneself) · pt sustento (means of supporting oneself) · se ealáhus (means of supporting oneself) · te జీవనోపాధి (means of supporting oneself) · fo livibreyð (means of supporting oneself) · fr subsistance (means of supporting oneself) · fi elanto (means of supporting oneself) · es modo de ganarse la vida (means of supporting oneself) · de Lebensunterhalt (means of supporting oneself) · nb utkomme (means of supporting oneself) · de täglich Brot (means of supporting oneself) · es modus vivendi (means of supporting oneself) · is lifibrauð (means of supporting oneself) · de Erwerbsquelle (means of supporting oneself) · eo vivrimedo (means of supporting oneself) · ga slí bheatha (means of supporting oneself) · ga slí mhaireachtála (means of supporting oneself) · fi elinkeino (means of supporting oneself) · de Auskommen (means of supporting oneself) · ja 生計 (means of supporting oneself) · nn livsopphald (means of supporting oneself) · pdt Läwensunjahault (means of supporting oneself) · da levebrød (means of supporting oneself) · fo útkoma (means of supporting oneself) · nl levensonderhoud (means of supporting oneself) · nv bee iináanii (means of supporting oneself) · cs živobytí (means of supporting oneself) · ar مَعَاش (means of supporting oneself) · fo lívsbreyð (means of supporting oneself) · nn levebrød (means of supporting oneself) · hi आजीविका (means of supporting oneself) · ko 생계 (means of supporting oneself) · ml ജീവിതം (means of supporting oneself) · hi जीविका (means of supporting oneself) · id penghidupan (means of supporting oneself) · vi sinh kế (means of supporting oneself) · lad ganansia (means of supporting oneself) · tl kabuhayan (means of supporting oneself) · ru пропита́ние (means of supporting oneself) · lad parnasa (means of supporting oneself) · fo lívsuppihald (means of supporting oneself) · ml ഉപജീവനം (means of supporting oneself) · fr gagne-pain (means of supporting oneself) · cs obživa (means of supporting oneself) · es manera/forma de ganarse la vida (means of supporting oneself) · cmn 生計 /生计 (means of supporting oneself) · fi toimeentulo (means of supporting oneself) · hu megélhetés (means of supporting oneself) · cmn 飯碗 /饭碗 (means of supporting oneself) · sv levebröd (means of supporting oneself) · is viðurværi (means of supporting oneself) · bg препита́ние (means of supporting oneself)