Meanings
plural longevities · alternative archaic longævity
- countableuncountableThe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life.
Grandpa had incredible longevity: he lived to be 105 years old!
2 more examples
This 142-year-old tiny ex-LNWR SB [signal box, at Batley] is an amazing survivor, probably owing its longevity to its location alongside a level crossing. Indeed it started life as a gate box with the delightful name of Lady Ann's Crossing.
2020 July 1, David Allen, “Signalling from Leeds along the S&C”, in Rail, page 74The longevity of spicy and swicy will depend on how committed consumers are to sticking with these flavors as they grow older.
2024 June 2, Parija Kavilanz, “‘Swicy’ is the hottest trend in food right now”, in CNN - countableuncountableDuration over time; persistence.
A ‘postdating’ is an example of the use of a lexical item at a later date than currently recorded and these are important in establishing the longevity of use of a term and whether or not it has become obsolete.
2018, James Lambert, “Anglo-Indian slang in dictionaries on historical principles”, in World Englishes, volume 37, page 255
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlongaevitās
- Englishlongevity
Early 17th century, learned borrowing from Latin longaevitās, from longaevus (“ancient, aged”) + -itās. The first part is related to English long and this association led to the alternative pronunciation with /ŋ/.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μακροβίωσις
- μακροβίωσις (makrobíōsis)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Bulgarian дълголетие
- дълголетие (dălgoletie)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Catalan longevitat
- longevitatthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Chinese Mandarin 長壽 /长寿
- 長壽 /长寿 (chángshòu)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Czech dlouhověkost
- dlouhověkostthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Dutch levensduur
- levensduurthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Esperanto longviveco
- longvivecothe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Estonian pikaealisus
- pikaealisusthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Finnish pitkäikäisyys
- pitkäikäisyysthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
French longévité
- longévitéthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
German Langlebigkeit, lange Lebensdauer
- Langlebigkeitthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- lange Lebensdauerthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Greek μακροζωία
- μακροζωία (makrozoḯa)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Hungarian hosszú élet
- hosszú életthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Indonesian panjang umur
- panjang umurthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Irish buaine, fadsaolaí
- buainethe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- fadsaolaíthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Italian longevità
- longevitàthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Japanese 寿命, 長寿
- 寿命 (jumyō)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- 長寿 (chōju)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- 不老不死 (furōfushi)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Korean 장수
- 장수 (jangsu)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Latin longaevitās
- longaevitāsthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Māori mauriroa
- mauriroathe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Polish długowieczność
- długowiecznośćthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Portuguese longevidade
- longevidadethe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Romanian longevitate
- longevitatethe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Russian долголе́тие, долгожи́тельство
- долголе́тие (dolgolétije)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- долгожи́тельство (dolgožítelʹstvo)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Spanish longevidad
- longevidadthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Turkish uzun ömürlülük
- uzun ömürlülükthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Ukrainian довголі́ття, довгожи́тельство
- довголі́ття (dovholíttja)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- довгожи́тельство (dovhožýtelʹstvo)the quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Vietnamese sự sống lâu, tuổi thọ cao
- sự sống lâuthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
- tuổi thọ caothe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Welsh hirhoedledd
- hirhoedleddthe quality of being long-lasting, especially of life
Cite this entry
longevity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longevity
“longevity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longevity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “longevity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/longevity.
Source: longevity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.