livelihood

Alternative forms

• livelod
• lyuelode [12th-17th c.]
• lyvelod [14th-17th c.]

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlʌɪvlɪhʊd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/

Noun

livelihood (countable and uncountable, plural livelihoods)

1. (obsolete) The course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour. [10^th-17^thc.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iij, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:

     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

2. A person's means of supporting themself. [from 14^thc.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.4:

     But now, when Philtra saw my lands decay / And former livelod fayle, she left me quight […].

   • Addison

     the opportunities of gaining an honest livelihood

   • South

     It is their profession and livelihood to get their living by practices for which they deserve to forfeit their lives.

   • 2013, Matthew Claughton, The Guardian, (letter), 25 April:

     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.

3. (now rare) Property which brings in an income; an estate. [from 15^thc.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts V:

     Then sayde Peter: Ananias how is it that satan hath fillen thyne hert, thatt thou shuldest lye unto the holy goost, and kepe awaye parte off the pryce off thy lyvelod […]?

4. (obsolete) Liveliness; appearance of life.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)