Did you know?
"I've been workin' on the railroad, all the livelong day." So goes the American folk standard, and nowadays when we encounter the word livelong, it is typically in the phrase "all the livelong day" or something similar. Although we don't see livelong much in prose anymore, poets still love the word, possibly for its two distinct, alliterative syllables. Despite the resemblance, livelong does not mean the same thing as lifelong (as in "a lifelong friend"). In fact, the words are not closely related: the live in livelong derives from lef, a Middle English word meaning "dear or beloved."
Examples of livelong in a Sentence
Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'livelong.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to livelong
Dictionary Entries Near livelong
Cite this Entry
“Livelong.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/livelong. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share