Etymology

blive

B3L1I1V4E1

Today it means: quickly; forthwith Full definition →

Middle English blive
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

blive · verb1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

blive · adverb2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromblive“actively, vigorously, eagerly, gladly, quickly, at once”
  2. English todayblive

From Middle English blive (“actively, vigorously, eagerly, gladly, quickly, at once”), with unsyncopated alternative form bilive. The adverb is from a contraction of by /bi + live (dative form of lyf, "life"), literally, "by life".

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.