/ˈlaɪvən/
OriginPartly from life + -en; partly from live (adjective) + -en; and partly a shortening of enliven. Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk livna (“to quicken, come alive”), Faroese livna (“to come to life, come alive”), Icelandic lifna (“to come to life”).
- ambitransitiveTo cause to be more lively, or to become more lively.
“Let's liven up this party!”
“Bacon's Rebellion (p. 54) has no political meaning for Mr. Bruce. Champlain's fight with the Iroquois is told to liven the narrative with a fight (p. 36), but the far-reaching result is merely hinted ”
“[…] and he fought for others' banners,
And he dined at others' tables, and he droned in others' hives,
And he livened others' journeys, and he rhymed of others' tourneys,
And he emptied others' flagon”
- form-of, obsolete, plural, presentplural simple present of live
“We liven in fear, but we wot not whither to flee for to be better than we arn here.”
“What shoulden shepheards other things tend,
Then, sith their God his good does them send,
Reapen the fruite thereof, that is pleasure,
The while they here liven, at ease and leasure?”
“Wherefore so long as they make their abode
In Him, incorp'rate by due Unitie
They liven in eternall energie,”
Formslivens(present, singular, third-person) · livening(participle, present) · livened(participle, past) · livened(past)
Source: Wiktionary — CC BY-SA 4.0