leben

See also: Leben and lében

German

Etymology

From Middle High German lëben and Old High German lebēn, from Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (leave, cling, linger).

Cognate with Old Saxon libbian (Middle Low German leven, German Low German lęven, lewen (to live)), Dutch leven, English live, West Frisian libje, Old Norse lifa (Swedish leva), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liban).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈleːbən/, [ˈleːbm̩], [ˈleːb(ə)n]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Germany):(file)
  • Audio (Germany):(file)

Verb

leben (weak, third-person singular present lebt, past tense lebte, past participle gelebt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (intransitive) to live, to be alive
    Synonym: am Leben sein
    Lebt dein Uropa noch?Is your great-grandpa still alive?
  2. (intransitive) to dwell, to reside
    Synonym: wohnen
    Ich lebe in der Schillerstraße in der Nähe des Stadtzentrums.I live on the Schiller street near the city center.
    • 2010, Der Spiegel[1], number 35/2010, page 102:
      Es leben etwa 300 000 Bürger des ehemaligen Jugoslawien in der Schweiz, kaum ein Staat hat damals im Verhältnis zu seiner Einwohnerzahl so viele Flüchtlinge aufgenommen.
      There are (reside) about 300,000 citizens of the former Yugoslavia living in Switzerland, hardly any state took in so many refugees in relation to its population at that time.
  3. (intransitive) to live, to exist, to occupy a place
    Die Dinosaurier lebten für Jahrmillionen auf der Erde bevor der Mensch erschien.The dinosaurs existed on Earth for millions of years prior to the rise of man.
  4. (intransitive, hyperbolic) to cope with, to live with, to deal with [with mit (+ dative)]
    Du wirst wohl damit leben müssen!You'll have to cope with it!
    Jeder muss mit seinen eigenen Problemen leben!Everybody has to deal with their own issues.
  5. (transitive) to lead (a certain life or existence)
    ein einfaches Leben lebento lead a simple life
  6. (transitive) to fulfill, to live out (a dream/wish regarding one's life)
  7. (transitive, chiefly business) to put into practice, to routinely follow (of processes and policies)
    Diese Änderungen funktionieren nur, wenn die entsprechenden Prozesse auch gelebt werden.
    These changes only work if the relevant processes are actually being put into practice.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • leben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • leben” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • leben” in Duden online
  • leben” in OpenThesaurus.de
  • leben on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German lebēn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (before 13th CE) /ˈlɛbən/

Verb

lëben (class 2 weak, third-person singular present lëbet, past tense lëbete, past participle gelëbet, auxiliary hān)

  1. to live

Conjugation

Descendants

  • Alemannic German: lëëbe
    • Alsatian: lawe
    • Swabian: läba
  • Bavarian:
    Cimbrian: lem
    Mòcheno: lem
  • German: leben
  • Luxembourgish: liewen
  • Vilamovian: łaowa
  • Yiddish: לעבן (lebn)

References

  • Benecke, Georg Friedrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Zarncke, Friedrich (1863), “lëben”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Nubi

Etymology

From Arabic لَبَن (laban).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛbən]

Noun

lében

  1. milk

References

  • Wellens, Ineke (2005), The Nubi Language of Uganda: an Arabic Creole in Africa, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *libbjan, from Proto-Germanic *libjaną, related to Old English libban, Old Norse lifa. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (leave, cling, linger).

Verb

lebēn

  1. to live
Conjugation
Descendants

Etymology 2

Derived from the verb lebēn.

Noun

lebēn n

  1. life
Descendants